Key:substation
 substation
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| Description |
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Specifies substation role in a utility network  
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| Group: Infrastructure |
| Used on these elements |
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| Documented values: 10 |
| Useful combination |
Status: approved
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| Tools for this tag |
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Substations often have particular roles in pipeline or power networks they're involved. This key provides values to make distinction among common roles and more particular ones that regard power or pipeline only.
Choice has been made in for power and for pipelines to use some roles in common. transmission, distribution and delivery are common terms in any public utility network. More details are given on each concerned value pages.
How to use
Role can be easily defined when a given substation is operated by one single company. This company provides a certain service level and according to pressures/voltages, area covered by the facility you intend to tag it will be obvious to get the corresponding role according to its definition (see specialized pages).
For instance, following situations are simple and valid nation wide, try to find similar ones for your area or ask your local community:
- All French power public substations with 400 000 volts as highest voltage and operated by RTE and would get transmission.
- All French gas public substations with high pressure flowing inside (> 30 bars) and operated by one of the transmission system operator get transmission.
However, more complex situations exists, may confuse mappers and prevent them to get the appropriate value. Mainly, you may be confused by following issues in a particular facility:
- Lack of public information, lack of knowledge, lack of ground visibility
- Several operators run the same perimeter, responsibility limits aren't easy to determine
- Several activities (different voltages, different pressures, different subscribers and usages) are in operation in the same perimeter
First of all you should try to find missing public knowledge in appropriate sources for OSM that could help to solve a tough case. Some public documentation could keep records of who paid for the substation.
Secondly, local laws and regulation for industrial activities often define rules to classify facilities providing capacity for a given market (for instance, electricity market or oil market). Finding and studying them could help to get additional hints to determine the appropriate OSM role. It is possible and encouraged to document them for a given area on the corresponding project page.
Finally, precedence of public roles (transmission, distribution) should be considered over private roles, substations dedicated to one subscriber (traction, industrial, ...). For instance, although such activities should be separated according to several countries utilities markets rules, you may sometimes hesitate between transmission and industrial. Because some equipment/capacities regard the public transmission networks and other regard a private subscriber using power or gas for its own industrial process. transmission wins if you're not able to find distinguished perimeters.
Roles
Find below the existing and documented roles you may use
Common roles
These roles can independently be used with power=substation or pipeline=substation.
Electrical dedicated substations
Electrical substations as part of power transmission and distribution network. Use it with power=substation tag.
Pipeline dedicated substations
Pipeline substation refers to various pipeline facilities for compression, flow control (valves) etc. Use it with pipeline=substation tag.