Dnister Pumped Storage Power Plant

Dnister PSPP is one of Ukraine's major pumped-storage facilities: its first four reversible units deliver 1,296 MW in generating mode, each rated at 324 MW, with power exported through a 330 kV gas-insulated switchgear installation. Gridradix engineers were brought in under emergency-restoration conditions after impact damage to the high-voltage switchgear and its associated secondary systems. The objective was blunt: recover a dependable protection-and-control chain — from IED logic through field signals to breaker commands — so that critical 330 kV connections could be re-energised safely.

• Restored a substantial part of the relay-protection system associated with the 330 kV GIS, covering generator connections and 330 kV transmission-line bays.
• Reconstructed damaged protection and automation functions by checking existing circuits, restoring signal chains, verifying IED configurations and rebuilding required control logic.
• Configured and commissioned ABB REL650 line-distance protection, Siemens SIPROTEC 4 protection devices and GE Multilin L90 line differential protection relays.
• Verified binary inputs and outputs, trip and close commands, interlocks, protection indications, alarm paths and the interfaces between protection IEDs and the station automation system.
• Performed functional verification of protection logic and operational sequences for the safe return of restored bays to service — with particular attention to reliable tripping and correct selectivity between primary and backup protection functions.
• Supported recommissioning of the automation layer after extensive damage, restoring operational visibility and control for the affected high-voltage equipment.

The work combined high-voltage protection engineering with rapid restoration of secondary systems under constrained conditions. The main objective was to recover a dependable protection-and-control chain from IED logic through field signals and breaker commands, enabling safe re-energisation of critical 330 kV connections.