Central Maine Power Energizes First Electrical Substation for Maine Power Reliability Program

June 8, 2012
Central Maine Power achieved two milestones in the Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP) when it energized a new substation in the town of Monmouth, Maine.

Central Maine Power achieved two milestones in the Maine Power Reliability Program (MPRP) when it energized a new substation in the town of Monmouth, Maine. The Monmouth Substation is the first new station built as part of the MPRP to go into service, and the first for CMP and Iberdrola USA to use the IEC-61850 “Smart Substation” digital platform.

“This is an important milestone for CMP, Iberdrola USA, and the MPRP project team,” said Doug Herling, CMP’s vice president for Special Projects. “Commissioning a new substation is a complex process, but integrating IEC-61850 Protection and Control technology added to the challenge. It’s a first for our company, and it gives us one of the most advanced substation protection and control platforms in the U.S.”

Following a ten-week commissioning process, the Monmouth Substation was energized on May 17 and began supplying power to communities in five central Maine counties: Androscoggin, Kennebec, Lincoln, Oxford, and Sagadahoc. The substation’s 115-kV bus is fed by two new transmission line sections protected by breakers. The substation has two transformers, each with 14 MVA capacity. One transformer steps down the 115-kV voltage to 34.5 kV, and the other steps down the 115-kV voltage to 12.5 kV to supply local distribution circuits.

The IEC-61850 Protection and Control technology will be integrated with the company’s system controls to provide a new level of operational awareness for the utility, opening the door for automation and predictive-based maintenance. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) is a global leader in establishing international standards for all electrical, electronic, and related technologies. The IEC-61850 standard applies to substation automation systems and defines the communication protocols among protection and control devices within the substation and related utility control and protection systems.

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