115 kV Southern CA Wind Power Project

Background:

A prominent developer of wind power generation needed to modernize an existing Southern California facility to replace old inefficient wind turbines with new, more efficient turbines. This would effectively allow the developer to produce significantly more power using the same amount of real estate.

The Problems:

The new facility needed to comply with the new regulations for sale of power through the California Independent System Operator. This required a completely new interconnection substation. The local utility required that they maintain ownership of a portion of the interconnection facility, thus forcing a split facility. In addition, the developer’s system required significant reactive power support tha changed significantly under differing wind conditions. The time schedule allowed for this project was critical, since the developer would have lost a great deal of revenue if the facility was not completed for peak wind season.

The Solution:

MSE was selected to engineer, procure, construct, and commission the substation for both portions of the facility. MSE designed and constructed the utility owned portion of the facility to the utility standards and the developer owned portion to suit the developer’s needs. MSE also engineered an automatic reactive power compensation system that senses the requirement for reactive power and adjusts accordingly. MSE also engineered and installed a totally integrated protection, control, and monitoring system with a graphical user interface that was integrated into the developer’s wide area network and also allows dial-up access for remote diagnostics by MSE engineers and the developer’s personnel who do not have a network connection available. The project was completed on schedule and within budget.

MSE Market Share of Wind Power in North America

Total MW of wind power with services provided by MSE 4,925
(Includes 1,860 MW in process for 2008 service)

Total MW of wind with MSE provided services complete 3,065
as of Dec. 31, 2007.

Total wind power in the US as of Dec. 31, 2007 14,047
(per American Wind Energy Association)

% of US wind power MSE has provided services for 22
Total MW of wind with MSE provided services in Canada complete 120
as of Dec. 31, 2006.

Total wind power in Canada as of Dec. 31, 2006 1,492
(per Canadian Wind Energy Association)

% of Canadian wind power MSE has provided services for 8