January 2016
HAILEY, Idaho (January 28, 2016) — POWER Engineers, Inc. (POWER) is helping the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) provide more reliable power on the West Coast with services for a new converter station that is part of the utility’s $498 million in upgrades.
BPA replaced a nearly 50-year-old converter station at The Dalles, Oregon, with a new modern converter built by ABB in Sweden. It has the potential to convert and transmit up to 3,800 megawatts (MW) of energy, an increase from 3,100 MW.
“The upgraded Celilo converter station makes the entire Western Interconnection more reliable,” said Brian Furumasu, a senior project manager for POWER. “It also provides reliable and upgraded transmission path that helps supply Oregon and California with secure power.”
POWER, a key player in developing high-voltage direct current systems in the United States, provided services for the HVDC converter project that included evaluating alternatives and developing technical specifications. POWER, which served as BPA’s owner’s engineer, also supported BPA in the procurement process that led to the award of the HVDC converter station to ABB.
POWER performed AC and DC system studies and also reviewed design documents and drawings, participated in factory acceptance testing and supported commissioning testing. POWER teamed up with TransGrid Solutions for its DC expertise in studies and testing of the station’s control and protection system.
A converter is a device placed at each end of the transmission line that changes alternating current into direct current at one end, and DC back to AC on the other end of the line. HVDC systems transmit power over long distances at a lower cost and with lower electrical losses than do AC systems. AC is the common power used by households.
The new converter replaced aging and outdated converter equipment at Celilo. BPA had trouble finding replacement parts for the old converters and faced increasing costs to maintain the multiple-converter arrangement that had evolved over several upgrades.
The Celilo converter station anchors the northern end of the country’s longest and highest-capacity DC transmission systems called the Pacific Direct Current Intertie. The HVDC line runs 846 miles from The Dalles to Sylmar, California, near Los Angeles.
The line helps balance power supply with demand. It delivers renewable Northwest hydropower and wind energy to Southern California during the summer when there is more use of power for cooling. It also can send electricity north during the winter when Oregon residents use more power for heating.
BPA also upgraded 265 miles of HVDC transmission line that it owns and operates. BPA upgraded the transmission line to 560 kV from 500 kV. The upgrade provided new insulators to meet the higher voltage and included other improvements that increased reliability and performance.
BPA’s HVDC line runs from the The Dalles on the Columbia River to the Oregon and Nevada border, where it changes ownership to Southern Partners and operator Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. The line continues south to the Sylmar Converter station.
About POWER Engineers
POWER Engineers is a global consulting engineering firm specializing in the delivery of integrated solutions for energy, food and beverage, facilities, communications, environmental, and federal markets. POWER Engineers offers complete multidiscipline engineering, architectural, and program management services. Founded in 1976, it is an employee-owned company with more than 2,100 employees and over 45 offices throughout the United States and abroad. For more information, please visit www.powereng.com.
About BPA
The Bonneville Power Administration, headquartered in Portland, Oregon, is a nonprofit federal power marketer that sells wholesale electricity from 31 federal dams and one nuclear plant to 142 Northwest electric utilities, serving millions of consumers and businesses in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, western Montana and parts of California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming. BPA delivers power by way of more than 15,000 circuit miles of lines and 259 substations to 490 transmission customers. In all, BPA markets about a third of the electricity consumed in the Northwest and operates three-quarters of the region’s high-voltage transmission grid. BPA also funds one of the largest fish and wildlife programs in the world, and, with its partners, pursues cost-effective energy savings and operational solutions that help maintain affordable, reliable and carbon-free electric power for the Northwest. For more information, visit www.bpa.gov.
About TransGrid Solutions
TransGrid Solutions Inc. (TGS) provides expert technical consulting services around the globe in the field of power transmission technologies with a proven reputation for excellence. TGS offers expertise in HVDC, HVAC, FACTS, Renewable Energy and Power Quality technologies worldwide. TGS was founded in 2002 by a diversely skilled group of power systems engineers, with decades of practical experience in HVDC and HVAC systems, in the areas of power system studies/simulation, equipment design/engineering/ commissioning, and education. For more information, visit www.transgridsolutions.com.