Port Arthur Birch TS DESN Substation

Hydro One Networks owns and operates substantially all of Ontario's electricity transmission system—about 97% of Ontario's transmission capacity. Their distribution system is the largest in Ontario and spans 75% of the province. As part of Hydro One's end of life replacement competitive program, we were selected to provide engineering services related to the rehabilitation of the Port Arthur Birch TS DESN station in Thunder Bay.

The project consisted of nine incoming 115-kilovolt lines in a breaker-in-a-half configuration, three power transformers, and a 27.6-kilovolt low voltage Dual Element Spot Network (DESN). The DESN has eight feeders— two of which are connected to distributed generation stations.

The scope? Our team provided complete detailed design and studies for the replacement of the eleven 115-kilovolt breakers, nine 115-kilovolt line disconnect switches and the associated grounding switches, four sets of capacitive voltage transformers (CVT), and two mobile capacitor banks. We also helped with the installation of a new relay building containing batteries, chargers, and protection equipment, as well as the replacement of the AC/DC station service systems.

Our team’s mandate also included the civil work for the environmental permit acceptance, structural design, electrical arrangement design, and protection, control and metering for all equipment. We also performed protection, arc flash, and grounding studies to ensure safe and reliable power to the community.