Editing Substation (section)

===Collector substation===
In [[distributed generation]] projects such as a [[wind farm]] or [[photovoltaic power station]], a collector substation may be required. It resembles a distribution substation although power flow is in the opposite direction, from many [[wind turbine]]s or [[inverters]] up into the transmission grid. Usually for economy of construction the collector system operates around 35&nbsp;kV, although some collector systems are 12 kV, and the collector substation steps up voltage to a transmission voltage for the grid. The collector substation can also provide [[power factor correction]] if it is needed, metering, and control of the wind farm. In some special cases a collector substation can also contain an HVDC converter station.

Collector substations also exist where multiple thermal or hydroelectric power plants of comparable output power are in proximity. Examples for such substations are [[Brauweiler]] in Germany and [[Hradec substation|Hradec]] in the Czech Republic, where power is collected from nearby [[lignite]]-fired power plants. If no transformers are required for increasing the voltage to transmission level, the substation is a switching station.