Challenges With Aging Electrical Infrastructure By G&W Electric

Published 27 Nov 2020

Electric Power Solutions

Challenges With Aging Electrical Infrastructure

The following Whitepaper by G&W Electric and presented by T&D discusses the challenges that are encountered with aging electrical infrastructure with emphasis on insights into the planning, design, and execution of a major campus upgrade project at the California State University in Fresno, California.

The project had the objective to replace an aging electrical distribution system with one that delivers a continuous supply of power to all of the campus facilities, regardless of the reliability of the utility feed to the campus.

Thorne & Derrick are Specialist Distributors of Substation, Electrical Safety, Cable Jointing & Accessories to UK and international utilities and contractors providing electrical power at distribution and transmission voltage levels.

Introduction

This paper will provide insights into the planning, design, and execution of a major campus upgrade project at the California State University in Fresno, California. The project had the objective to replace an aging electrical distribution system with one that delivers a continuous supply of power to all of the campus facilities, regardless of the reliability of the utility feed to the campus.

This objective was accomplished by delivering a multi-vendor turnkey automation solution including metal-clad switchgear, pad mount switches with voltage and current sensors and motor actuators, transformers, relays, a Remote Terminal Unit (RTU) with Human Machine Interface (HMI), and communication devices.

The system can be expanded easily to handle the future plans of the university. Key elements of the upgraded electrical distribution system are the engineered-to-order Fault Location, Isolation, and Service Restoration (FLISR) and Loss of Voltage (LOV) automation schemes that ensure the continuous supply of power to all campus facilities.

The automation equipment, such as relays, RTU, and communication devices, was chosen based on performance, support for open communication protocols like IEC 61850with GOOSE (Generic Object Oriented System Event) messaging, and best fit for the application. Another deciding factor for California State University Fresno was the seamless integration of best-in-class products from multiple vendors into one system.

This included major milestones such as system engineering and testing, factory acceptance testing, training for operators, and documentation with the ultimate goal to eliminate any issues during the commissioning of the solution. The intent of this paper is to share lessons learned with other potential end-users and provide helpful insights into issues to consider for distribution system upgrade projects in general.

Contents

• Introduction
• About California State University
  A. Quick Facts
  B. Challenges With Aging Electrical Infrastructure
  C. Goals for Upgrade of Electrical Infrastructure
• State-of-the-art distribution automation upgrade project
  A. Design & Planning
  B. Execution & Delivery
• Lessons Learned
• References
• Authors

G&W Electric

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