BPL Global has partnered with Xcel Energy on its smart substation project in St. Paul, Minnesota. BPLG and Xcel Energy will deploy BPLG's Serveron Transformer Monitoring Solution in Xcel Energy's Merriam Park substation to provide continuous information on the health of the power transformer, the key energy delivery asset in every substation. The Serveron Transformer Monitoring Solution will support improved reliability, lower maintenance costs as well as better employee safety and extended transformer life.

The Smart Substation project includes retrofitting an existing substation (Merriam Park) with Serveron's technology. The Serveron Transformer Monitoring Solution will be deployed as part of a network of intelligent electronic devices all communicating to one another and a network information processor to provide new levels of substation protection, automation, control and monitoring.

"We are pleased to have BPL Global working closely with us as a partner in our Smart Substation project," said Dennis Stephens, director of Xcel Energy's Utility Innovations and Smart Grid Investment. "The next-generation Smart Substation will allow our company to better meet growing demands, address environmental challenges and increase power system reliability. BPL Global's transformer monitors will contribute in all these areas."

The project includes developing an analytics engine that processes massive amounts of data for near real-time decision-making and automated actions. Additionally, the project will enable operators to perform almost all functions remotely and will eliminate much of the need for "hands on" monitoring and control. The Smart Substation project will help Xcel Energy in optimizing power factor performance and obtain a significant reduction in distribution losses leading to a reduction in carbon footprint.

The Smart Substation project operational benefits include reduced maintenance and installation costs, improved employee safety and equipment life, faster restoration times and increased system reliability. This system will also test and demonstrate newly developed security technology.