POWER Engineers has been awarded a contract by Tres Amigas, LLC to perform engineering services for the Tres Amigas SuperStation. POWER Engineers will serve as the Owner’s Engineer for the project and provide a wide range of engineering support to design, specify and manage the engineering activities for the project. The Tres Amigas SuperStation is a first-of-its-kind power transmission hub that will link North America’s three primary electric transmission grids.
The project, to be located in Clovis, New Mexico, near the Texas/New Mexico border, will enhance the reliability of the country’s electricity network and facilitate the efficient transfer of clean energy between regions, notably interconnecting the Eastern (Southwest Power Pool), Western (Western Electricity Coordinating Council) and Texas (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) networks. When operational, the SuperStation will serve to improve power reliability and solve voltage and stability problems caused by the intermittent generation of renewable energy sources such as wind, and other renewable such as solar and geothermal generation. It will have significant reactive power capability that can be controlled at each interconnection, thereby improving stability, transfer capability and transmission efficiency.
POWER Engineers will immediately begin engineering design work for the SuperStation which will employ the latest HVDC technology in Voltage Source Converters (VSC) from Alstom Grid and superconductor cables from LS Cable and Nexans that utilize American Superconductor Corporation’s proprietary Amperium wire. Construction is expected to commence in 2011 and the SuperStation is scheduled to begin commercial operations by 2014.
POWER Engineers is also pleased to provide the design services that will lead to construction of the Viridity Energy Inc. commercial operations center for Tres Amigas. By closely integrating these resources through CH2M HILL’s program management services and with the engineering analytics of Burns & McDonnell, the planning insights of ZGlobal and the battery capability of Xtreme Power, Tres Amigas has assembled an All-American team of companies to construct this much needed facility for North America.
“Tres Amigas has engaged the world’s elite engineering, project management and technology organizations to connect America’s balkanized power grids for the first time ever with the Tres Amigas SuperStation,” said Phil Harris, CEO and founder of Tres Amigas, LLC. “We are very pleased to now include the highly experienced team of POWER Engineers as part of the Tres Amigas team.”
“The Tres Amigas project represents a significant opportunity to harness the latest technologies to provide a fundamental change in the operational model for the electric grid in North America,” said POWER Engineers Executive Vice President, Tim Ostermeier. “We’re very pleased to have been selected to assist in this innovative project.”
Tres Amigas, LLC selected POWER Engineers because of its extensive capabilities, depth and experience in EHV and FACTS projects. POWER is currently involved with several HVDC projects under development in the United States.
