Electrical upgrades at a power plant can significantly enhance both reliability and safety. These upgrades often involve modernizing or improving various components of the electrical system, ensuring it operates efficiently, withstands potential challenges, and adheres to the latest safety standards.
The team at Laramie River Station, a 1,700-megawatt coal-based dispatchable generation facility, is upgrading the 480-volt (V) switchgear, which includes the transformer, the load center, and the motor control center. Dustin Rothe, electrical engineer III at Laramie River, is the site contact helping to complete these electrical upgrades. “Currently, we have long-range engineering plans through at least 2030 for the 480V switchgear upgrades for the scrubbers, coal yard, and water treatment areas,” Rothe says. “We will complete the 480V switchgear upgrade for the main plant during the 2024 spring outage.”
In 2024, work will be completed to tie the backup generator to the facility’s Unit 3. The plant has also added a few new cross-feed connections, providing multiple options to keep the plant operating in case of equipment failure or routine maintenance, and ensuring continued reliability for members.
Upgrading equipment and electrical systems takes planning and foresight, part of which stems from having a solid resource portfolio. “Fundamentally, Basin Electric’s resource portfolio needs to be aligned with its expected member loads,” says Ben Hertz, Basin Electric manager of Power Supply Planning.
“Dispatchable generation, such as at our coal- and natural gas-fueled facilities, is a crucial component to reliability. Each year Basin Electric performs an update to each member’s load forecast, then re-analyzes its need for future resources on a recurring basis. As the membership and resulting obligations grow, technology and infrastructure development has enabled additional forms of generation and fuel supply throughout Basin Electric’s service territories. This means we have added combustion turbines, reciprocating engines, dispatchable energy purchases, combined cycle plants, as well as wind and solar generation. Portfolio additions are based on an evaluation of all feasible forms of generation, with decisions made on an economic basis.”
Resource Planning gathers input from the Transmission Planning and Engineering teams, along with information compiled through requests for proposal for power supply, to analyze the optimal resource additions for Basin Electric and to provide reliable electricity for its members.
Electrical upgrades, along with managing Basin Electric’s resource portfolio, play a crucial role in enhancing reliability. Modernizing equipment, improving monitoring and control
systems, implementing redundancy, evaluating all feasible forms of generation, and ensuring compliance with standards and regulations help keep the power on.
