Extra-high voltage usually 220 kV or 380 kV
Large-scale power stations
High voltage usually 110 kV
Converter / inverter
Railway
Power stations
Industrial consumers
Wind farm
Solar power plants
Medium voltage usually 10 to 20 kV
Industrial consumers
Municipal power station
Local grid City grid
Low voltage < 1,000 V , usually 400 / 230 V
Extra-high voltage ( EHV ) High voltage ( HV ) Medium voltage ( MV ) Low voltage ( LV )
Transformer / substation
400 to 230 V
400 to 230 V
Overview of the power levels in the power supply
Phoenix Contact Energy Automation
The experts of the high-voltage grids have a varied company history behind them . The company “ Relaisund Feinwerkbau Essen Helmut Mauell ” was founded in Essen-Werden in 1957 . From the very beginning , Mauell was a sure thing when it came to constantly inventing new things in the field of grid technology , and over the years it produced many patents . The company moved to Velbert-Neviges in 1960 . Volker Fleischer and Thomas Ehrhardt were already employees when the parent company was still headquartered in Velbert , and Mauell Netzleittechnik set up a branch in Weida , Thuringia , called Mauell Weida GmbH . The Bilfinger Group took over Helmut Mauell GmbH in 2012 , but withdrew from the power station control technology sector after just a few years . Mauell GmbH became independent again in 2016 . Phoenix Contact took over the grid control technology division with the locations Velbert and Weida in 2017 . Our East German colleagues then relocated to Gera in 2019 . New products were developed , and after a long period of personnel cuts , new employees are now being hired again .
The actual task of the three engineers is to replace the more than ten-year-old control technology with modern components from Phoenix Contact . Never change a running system – does that not apply here ? “ Quite simply , the requirements have increased significantly ,” explains Fleischer . “ Fiberglass and Ethernet connections were already the standard 15 years ago . But now , the whole issue of security has been added . And of course we have also improved and developed our modules further , with increasing processing power . Therefore , renewing the technical components here in Remptendorf is of the utmost importance .”
Ehrhardt adds , “ In general , the restructuring of the power grids is placing an ever-greater burden on the grid operators . And also at the extra-high voltage level . The old one-way street principle is no longer sufficient in times of fluctuating energy feed-in from renewable energies . Large offshore systems or future energy storage power stations make it necessary for operators to keep their grids
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UPDATE 6 / 20 The Phoenix Contact innovation magazine