AML Carseland Transformer Upgrade
AML Carseland Transformer Upgrade
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | AML Carseland Transformer Upgrade
Owner | ALTALINK
Client’s Name | ALTALINK
Location | Carseland, AB
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | Phase 1: July 2021 - Oct. 2021, Phase 2: Aug. 2022 - Nov. 2022
Market Sector | Utilities
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
- Capital Replacement & Upgrades Project – 525s Carseland – SCADA Equipment Upgrade
- BROWNFIELD CONSTRUCTION, TRANSFORMER REPLACEMENTS, SCADA, site preparation, equipment installation, grounding, cabling, protection and control
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
- The project involved the removal and replacement of two transformers (one 138/26.5 KV, 15/20/25 MVA, one 138/13.8 KV, 25/33/42 MVA) and pads, 25kV circuit breakers, 138kV strain insulators, 25kV bus work, Station Service Transformer, and NGR, and removal of 13.8kV & 25kV voltage regulators, and concrete pads.
- In addition, the project included installation of a firewall between the transformers, Sorbweb oil containment for each transformer, and the relocation of a transformer from an existing substation to Carseland.
RESULT / SOLUTION
- The major outages and work was completed on time with deficiency work completed later.
Hand Hills Substation
Hand Hills Substation
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | Hand Hills Substation
Owner | BluEarth
Client’s Name | BluEarth
Location | Delia, Alberta
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | April 2022 to April 2023
Market Sector | Wind
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
The BluEarth Hand Hills Wind Project, is a 145 MW wind project located near Delia, Alberta. This project was constructed to provide clean, renewable energy for approximately 68,000 homes annually.
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
Project Deliverables:
- Detailed Substation Engineering
- Procurement of ALL major equipment including transformer
- Site Civil Works including remediation
- Construction
- Commissioning and Start-Up
Iconic’s detailed scope of work included:
- Substation design engineering and drawing packages for construction permitting, Owner design review, installation and “as-built” documentation
- The engineering, procurement, and construction of the substation for the Project, including all civil works, structural works, and electrical works
- Engineer, supply, install, commission, and test all systems that are part of the SOW
- Construct the Work, including all site civil & structural work, foundations, laydown yards, SCADA system, mechanical and monitoring/control systems, perimeter fence.
- The furnishing and installation of the local distribution interconnection for back-up power supply during operations.
- Provide construction power.
- At Substantial Completion, furnished ALTA-equivalent surveys including an overlay of the As-Built Drawings.
- Substation construction management, including quality assurance/quality control, site health and safety, site environmental compliance, site material control and management of all subcontractors.
- Commissioning and testing including all tasks necessary to allow commissioning of the substation.
- Project turnover, including substation completion documentation, Owner training, substation operations and maintenance documentation and manuals, and procurement of Owner requested spare parts.
RESULT / SOLUTION
Project is substantially complete.
AML Joss MPC WAGF
AltaLink Joss MPC WAGF
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | AltaLink Joss MPC WAGF
Owner | AltaLink
Client’s Name | AltaLink
Location | Jenner, AB
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | September 2021 - December 2022
Market Sector | Utilities
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
The project scope includes the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the following:
- Expansion of the existing substation (site development)
- Extension of the existing 240 kV bus with a partial diameter
- New A-Frame
- Add one new 240 kV circuit breaker
- The project is considered a brownfield
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
The scope of work consists of the following:
- Site expansion
- Screw pile foundations
- Placement and assembly of breakers, switches and associated equipment
- Grounding work, including grounding of offloading equipment
- Hydrovac Daylighting trenches for control cables
- Arranging site security to avoid theft, intrusions, vandalism, etc.
- Procuring temporary site facilities
- Project consisted of 1 outage to connect the new 240kv bus to the existing 240kv bus. During this outage the line drops from the new transmission line were completed by Iconic
RESULT / SOLUTION
Project completed in 2022.
Conrad Transformer Addition
Conrad Transformer Addition
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | Conrad Transformer Addition
Owner | AltaLink
Client’s Name | AltaLink
Location | Near Wrentham, AB
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | September 2018 to August 2019, completed on time. The project took a total of 8 months to complete, as there was a project lull over the winter months.
Market Sector | Utilities
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
The project scope for the Conrad substation includes installing a new transformer and switchgear and control building combo at Conrad 135s substation.
ICONIC was contracted to upgrade the Conrad substation. The objective was to provide enhanced reliability to the Fortis 25 KV distribution system in the greater Wrentham area. The work required the installation of a new transformer, switchgear and control building combo. Due to the age of the station, there was some uncertainty as to the accuracy of the previously recorded drawings. This posed ongoing challenges to the engineering team.
The single biggest project constraint was the limited availability of outages. The site was on a radial feed on the 138 KV system – leaving a small window of opportunity for outages until the new transformer could be installed as a redundant feed. To further complicate this project, all work needed to proceed with extreme care due to the nesting birds in the area. On top of that, there were issues with manufacturer lead times on the 138 KV and 25 KV switches.
The combination of these challenges, along with winter construction, threatened to set the project back.
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
Initially, ICONIC’s project scope was limited to the installation, connection and commissioning of all power system upgrades. This was expanded to include civil services on the pad expansion, as ICONIC was able to demonstrate how we could complete the work more efficiently, without cutting corners. The scope included:
- Expansion of the existing station pad
- Installation a new 138/25 KV LTC transformer with a 25 KV switchgear
- The addition of the Fortis AMI was added to ICONIC’s scope
- Installation of two (2) new 138 KV breakers for the new and existing transformer
- One (1) new 7-cell switchgear building with two new feeders
- Salvage existing 25 KV feeder
RESULT / SOLUTION
This was a project that put ICONIC’s problem-solving abilities to the test. AltaLink’s Project Manager was approachable, easy to coordinate with, and extremely open to solutions.
AltaLink’s flexibility to allow us to execute the project outside of winter months led to better cost control. Defined outage planning ensured that key scopes were completed in a timely manner. To work around procurement delays, arrangements were made to purchase units from AltaLink’s emergency stores until the equipment procured by ICONIC arrived. We were also able to propose alternate material solutions to achieve ISD dates.
ICONIC was able to truly add value to this project by offering up the services of our newly formed earthworks team. We were able to stage portions of the project to aid in electrical execution without the change orders that you would see from an external civil entity. This resulted in a better final product – with no escalated costs to the client.
Finally, we closely monitored the surrounding area to identify and avoid active nesting sites.
Despite the challenges on this project, there were no significant incidents or lost time issues on this project. Regular one-on-one meetings with the client allowed us to maintain progress and arrive at the best path forward.
Riverview Windfarm Substation
Riverview Windfarm Substation
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | Riverview Windfarm Substation
Owner |
Client’s Name | ENEL
Location | Pincher Creek, AB
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | July 2019 to November 2019. Completed on time and on budget.
Market Sector | Renewable Energy, Wind
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
As part of Alberta’s Renewable Energy Program, Enel Green Power North America Inc. built two projects just outside of Pincher Creek, Alberta: a 115 MW wind farm and a 31MW wind farm.
ICONIC was contracted to design, procure, construct, and commission the River¬view Substation and the CRII expansion projects. It was a multifaceted project that provided ICONIC’s team the ability to shine. As one would expect at a site selected for wind power, frequent gusts required a professional construction and power team that could be counted on to safely execute this project in challenging conditions.
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
The work involved concurrent work by multiple teams on the two project sites. ICONIC’s construction and electrical crews worked in close collaboration to allow for smooth hand-offs, made possible by our high standards of quality control.
A. CRR2-EPC
This project component involved the addition of one feeder and protections to existing SWGR. The scope of work included:
- Installation and Commissioning of Metering and GRT tanks
- Installation of below grade cables and conduits
- 35KV Power Cable installation, termination and PD testing
- Terminations consisted of 3m and Elastimold kits
- Installation of revenue metering PT’s
- Installation and Commissioning of new Scada and RTAC systems
- Installation and Commissioning of new revenue meters on existing feeders
- Client Energization support
B. Riverview Greenfield Facility
This new 240 Kv facility would be tapping off the AltaLink Castle Rock Ridge facility. The scope of work involved:
- Station pad construction
- Installation and testing of station ground grid
- Foundation installation
- Installation of GRT Tank’s
- Installation and Commissioning of new 240KV switches and CT’s
- Installation of 35KV bus work
- Installation of transformer containment
- Installation of below grade cables and conduits
- Assist transformer OEM with assembly activities
- Installation and Commissioning of 35KV cap bank
- 35KV power cable installation. Termination and PD testing
- Terminations consisted of 3M, Elastimold and Pfis¬ter kits
- Installation and Commissioning of SCADA systems
- Commissioning of station protections including but not limited to feeder breaker controls
RESULT / SOLUTION
Both project components proceeded according to plan and schedule. Through ongoing communication and collaboration, ICONIC gave the client complete confidence that their project was being professionally managed and built to design. Project management best practices ensured our multiple teams, suppliers and contractors were working in unison.
Today, these facilities are playing a central role in helping Alberta businesses to meet the growing public demand for green generated energy. Construction was completed on-schedule, on-budget and with no safety incidents to report.
Chestermere Substation Construction
Chestermere Substation Construction
PROJECT SNAPSHOT
Project Name | Chestermere Substation Construction
Owner | AltaLink
Client’s Name | AltaLink
Location | Chestermere Lake, AB
Date / Project Timeline / Delivery | October 2017 to September 2018, completed on time and on budget. The project took a total of 10 months to complete, as there was a project lull over the winter months.
Market Sector | Utilities
BACKGROUND (Pre-Project Commencement)
This was a full EPC greenfield substation project located on the south side of Chestermere Lake. The goal was to bolster the reliability of the Fortis 25 KV distribution system in the greater Chestermere area. It was ICONIC’s first EPC turnkey project.
Because our work was going on at the same time as adjacent land and road development projects, coordinating site boundaries with the town of Chestermere was a challenge. The area adjacent to the project site was deemed a wetland. Extensive premobilization documentation and permitting was required to ensure the project started on schedule.
ACTION (ICONIC’s Scope & Delivery)
This scope of work included all the engineering, the civil pad development and installation of three 138 kV breakers and two 138/25 kV transformers along with a couple ABB Modular substation on skids.
- Engineering drawings and submissions
- Procurement of materials
- Pad construction
- 138 KV transmission line tie-in
- Installation of telecom tower
- RAS system for the 138 KV interconnection
- Alterations to remoted ends for the 138 KV power line
- Installation of the AMI for Fortis
RESULT / SOLUTION
As ICONIC’s first foray into EPC, this project opened our eyes to the need for disciplined processes and strategies to manage essential project details. It led us to create a dedicated internal procurement team, and to devise step-by-step processes for reviewing and vetting engineering submittals prior to client submission. While standard procedure today, this was new to us at the time.
We are pleased to report our first EPC project was a success. Our team demonstrated the advantage of being able to draw on our extensive crew to meet ISD dates, and the importance of strong contractor relationships. Today, EPC work is second-nature to us.