Results
The McAlpine Creek Substation microgrid has been in service since July 2015. Since then, the microgrid has provided peak shaving and a resilient energy supply, benefiting end users as well as the utility. It has operated manually under operator supervision and also automatically during outages and disturbances. Because the substation can seamlessly island and resynchronize automatically during extreme weather events, it can be relied on to maintain power to mission-critical services for the firehouse.
Duke will use the lessons learned implementing the McAlpine Creek Substation microgrid to develop a process for standardizing and building future microgrids. A key component of this is using standard, off-the-shelf utility-grade control equipment, the SEL-651R Advanced Recloser Control, and the SEL RTAC.
“This was a great opportunity to prove what we can accomplish using standard SEL equipment that a lot of utilities already own. The customer had a vision for how they wanted the system to work, and the diverse programming options available in acSELerator RTAC Software allowed us to realize that vision.”