Gas-Insulated Switchgear Replaces Oil Systems at Seversk CHP Plant
Power engineers have strengthened protection systems at the Seversk combined heat and power plant in Russia’s Tomsk region. The facility has installed modern bus-coupler circuit breakers equipped with microprocessor control, a step expected to significantly improve the reliability of the station and the stability of the regional power system.
By the end of the year, new PR-30/35 turbines are scheduled to begin operation at the plant. For specialists from the Rosatom Infrastructure Solutions branch, completing this stage of the power-output modernization scheme was therefore essential. Three modern gas-insulated circuit breakers equipped with microprocessor relay-protection terminals now protect the plant’s power units from short-circuit currents and remove even minimal risks to stable grid operation.
Previously, the plant relied on oil circuit breakers and current-limiting reactors produced in the 1950s–1970s. Those systems had become both technically and economically outdated and required significant maintenance costs. Gas-insulated circuit breakers are more reliable, technologically advanced, and compact. Their insulating medium – sulfur hexafluoride gas – cannot ignite, unlike oil, and operates more efficiently in switching applications.
The equipment was tested during comprehensive system trials and has now entered regular operation.
New Reliability Standards for Industry and the City
Modernization of the Seversk CHP plant is one of the largest investment projects currently underway in the Tomsk region, and installing new switching equipment is a key element of that upgrade.
The introduction of microprocessor-based relay protection and automation systems significantly expands the ability to monitor equipment performance. Unlike oil breakers, gas-insulated units can be equipped with numerous sensors that transmit real-time data about equipment condition. As utilities increasingly adopt digital technologies and artificial intelligence, this data stream could support predictive analytics capable of detecting potential failures long before they occur.
These upgrades will make power supply to consumers both more reliable and safer. This is particularly important because the CHP plant provides electricity to the Siberian Chemical Combine and to the city of Seversk itself, which has a population of around 100,000 people.
Five Years of Gas-Insulated Technology in Russia’s Power Sector
Over the past several years, Russia’s power industry has been actively replacing aging oil circuit breakers with gas-insulated equipment. The transition is taking place at both thermal power plants and hydropower facilities.
For example, a key stage in the modernization of the 220 kV switchgear system at the Cheboksary Hydropower Plant was completed in 2019 as part of RusHydro’s comprehensive upgrade program. In 2024–2025, reconstruction of the 110 kV switchgear system was carried out at Yaroslavl CHP-2, where oil breakers were also replaced with modern gas-insulated units. Rosseti Moscow Region in 2025 replaced ten oil circuit breakers at the Orekhovo substation, which supplies electricity to residential districts and 78 social infrastructure facilities.
In Tambov, work has begun to modernize a 220 kV substation that provides electricity to more than 300,000 residents. Installation of 16 Russian-made gas-insulated circuit breakers will cost 480 million rubles ($5.8 million).
A New Philosophy of Power Supply
The modernization of the Seversk CHP plant illustrates a broader technological shift underway in Russia’s power sector. Transitioning from traditional oil breakers to gas-insulated equipment is not simply a replacement of aging hardware. When combined with modern microprocessor-based relay-protection systems, digital controllers, and eventually neural-network-based grid management tools, the technology creates the foundation for a more flexible, safer, and more controllable energy system.
Russia plans to continue modernizing its power infrastructure using domestic technological solutions at both the hardware and software levels. Over time, this strategy could allow the country not only to meet the needs of its large domestic power sector but also to enter international markets where modernization of energy infrastructure is in demand.
