115 kV New England Merchant Plants

Background:

A prominent developer of power plants was attempting to construct the first true merchant power plants in New England. One site was developed in Southern New England and the other in Northern New England.

The Problems:

Due to the location of the Southern facility, the utility interconnection had to be made to two different utility companies. This caused MSE to have to deal with several conflicting interconnection requirements between the two companies. The Northern facility needed to be fully integrated into the new digital system protection, monitoring, and control platform being developed by the utility. In addition, the upcoming deregulation of the New England power market caused a great deal of uncertainty in the interconnection requirements of the New England Independent System Operator.

The Solution:

MSE was selected to engineer, procure, construct, and commission the switchyards for both sites. MSE utilized its utility engineering expertise to resolve the conflicting utility requirements at the southern site. MSE also used its system protection, monitoring, and control expertise to assist the utility in the implementation of the new digital platform. MSE also worked closely with the ISO to resolve the uncertainties caused by the newly developing requirements of the upcoming deregulated power market in New England. Both sites were delivered by MSE on schedule and within budget