10
Jun
Since November 2017, State Electric’s Utility-Power Division has been hard at work executing the electrical scope at the Canal 3 333MW Generating Plant for NRG Energy and the Skanska/Burns & McDonnell joint venture. The new simple cycle unit is an addition to the existing 600MW plant that was built in the 1960’s located on the Cape Cod Canal. The modern, high-efficiency peaking plant is designed to promote grid reliability by primarily operating during peak demand periods. Our project team headed up by Project Manager Kyle Higginbotham, Assistant Project Manager Niall Cahill, and General Foremen John Cannon did a tremendous job on this challenging project and are currently in the process of achieving substantial completion.
The Canal 3 Generating Plant is composed of a General Electric (GE) 7HA.02 Combustion Turbine-Generator (CTG), which can achieve a total net power generation of 333MW. The plant is inclusive of the evaporative cooler, inlet air filter, emission control systems, gas compressor, water treatment, and all necessary auxiliary balance of plant equipment. State Electric was responsible for the installation of all electrical equipment, enclosures, interconnections, lighting, grounding, raceway, cable, and testing as necessary for a complete functional installation.
The outgoing feed from the generator is stepped up to 345kV and transmitted to the adjacent Eversource substation via an overhead transmission line furnished and installed by Par Electrical Contractors. State Electric was subcontracted by Par to install the substation at the NRG end of the line. For plant testing, the line serves as a back-feed to the plant, so it was essential that the milestone date of available back-feed power be met. State Electric’s General Foreman Jim Sheehan oversaw this portion of the work utilizing our lineman and additional LU 223 electricians for this successful portion of the project.
State Electric prides ourselves on our commitment to safety excellence and making sure all our employees go home safe every day. A project of this magnitude, which peaked at 70 Local 223 electricians for about 2 months, took a diligent effort from everyone involved to stay focused on accident prevention. Site Safety Representatives Ted Wheeler (November 2017-July 2018) and Kevin Rooney (August 2018 – Completion) did an outstanding job working with the project team to maintain a strong safety culture. Over 110,000 project man-hours were logged, with only ONE first aid case. This is a true testament to our team’s steadfast commitment to safety.
With some upcoming major utility-power projects in the pipeline on the South Shore/Cape Cod, we hope our experienced team from Canal gets the opportunity to deliver these projects as well.
