Projects

Alpha 3 provided engineering and design services to a major metropolitan electric utility in the Mid-Atlantic Region in support of its $1.5B annual capital investment plan, including its highest profile investment—a10-year, $850M electrical grid improvement project. Our work has included the revitalization of 2 bulk electric substations to enhance capacity, safety, and reliability. Alpha 3's scope included detailed protection and controls engineering, and its team was fully integrated with the utility's Engineer of Choice, Sargent & Lundy.

One substation project consisted of converting a traditional air-insulated substation (AIS) into a gas-insulated substation (GIS) with a breaker-and-a-half configuration, utilizing 2 tie breakers and 26 main bus breakers. All equipment is housed in a building that is a fraction of the size of the original substation. Outdated electromechanical relaying will be retired and replaced with digital relays and a revamped protective scheme.

Another substation project involves upgrades to a substation originally built in 1930 and replacement of equipment that is approaching the end of its intended service life. The scope includes the installation of high capacity transformers and feeders, rebuilding part of the building to meet new and revised building codes, and connecting the substation to the new networked system as part of the overall electrical grid improvement program. The exterior of the substation building will also be improved with input from the surrounding community and with regard for historical preservation considerations.

The high level of quality required for this scope of work and the training required to ensure adherence to the processes, procedures, and standards for its successful execution have provided experience that has reinforced our strategy for the execution of complex scopes of work with an integrated engineering and design team.