CtrlS datacenter deploys Asia’s largest gas-insulated substation in Mumbai

The state-of-art 300 MW gas insulated substation facility, scalable to 700 MW, is the first-of-its-kind deployment of power infrastructure by any datacenter company in the Asia Pacific region.

January 12, 2022 Uma Gupta

Gas-insulated substation occupies less space than a conventional air-insulated substation.

Image: GE

Co-location and managed services provider CtrlS Datacenters has announced the deployment of Asia’s largest gas-insulated substation (GIS) in Mumbai, the first of its kind deployment of power infrastructure by any data center company in the Asia Pacific region. The state-of-the-art gas-insulated substation (GIS) is currently capable of evacuating 300 MW and can be scaled up to 700 MW depending on the requirement.

Backed by three different sources and diversified paths, the gas-insulated substation ensures 100% availability of power at all times, thus powering the two million square feet CtrlS Datacenter Campus spread across ten Data Centers. The campus is currently under construction, of which four rated-4 data centers are operational.

CtrlS GIS facility will help businesses collocate their high-density IT infrastructure combined with seamless scalability to address their growth requirements.

The GIS deployed by CtrlS is one of the first large-scale deployments in Asia powered by 3 line configuration (N+N+1). CtrlS facility is equipped to deliver large capacities such as 100 MW of power to any customer in 15 to 18 months.

The gas-insulated substation occupies less space than a conventional air-insulated substation. The technology originally began in Japan in the 60’s, where there was a critical need to develop substations with a greatly reduced footprint. In the US, only about 2 to 5% of new substations are constructed as GIS.

“The deployment of 300 MW gas insulated substation scalable to 700 MW is our commitment to the industry as we continue to address the growing needs of hyperscalers, telcos, BFSI, healthcare, gaming, and new-age companies. We stay committed to adopting innovative approaches to serve the unmet needs of our customers, said Sridhar Pinnnapureddy, Founder and CEO, CtrlS Datacenters.”

With GIS technology, the clearance needed for phase-to-phase or phase-to-ground for all equipment is much less than for an air-insulated substation. The total space required for a GIS is roughly 10% of that needed for a conventional AIS facility.

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