Pro Watts has provided dozens of substation electrical design packages - ranging in complexity from the simple addition of distribution feeder breakers, to designs for new distribution substations on “green-field” sites. Based on the excellence of these designs and Pro Watts’s performance in meeting tight schedules, Pro Watts’s customers continue to entrust Pro Watts with thousands of hours of substation project engineering work every year.
Pro Watts, in this stage of the project, would be working with the customer to determine the requirements and the various ways the project could be concluded. After streamlining the possibilities a detailed risk assessment would be provided.
Determining the optimum solution requires agreement of all involved parties. To facilitate the discussion, it may be necessary to create layouts of one or more of the alternatives. As the design begins to take shape, approval from upper management and local government zoning boards may be sought and secured. After the concept has matured, details of the physical design and the protection and control design can proceed. This process leads to a finished project in which the expectations of all parties are met, avoiding costly changes later in the construction stage.
We begin the protection and control design with developing a preliminary single-line diagram, indicating the bus arrangement and major equipment such as power transformers, circuit breakers, voltage regulators, disconnect switches, capacitors, instrument transformers, etc. General information regarding metering, SCADA, relay interconnections, and communications may be included. The final protection and control scheme for the substation is presented on a relay and instrumentation single-line diagram that is based on the customer’s protection and control philosophy, as well as the recommendations of IEEE Standards.
Pro Watts then applies the customer’s available design and CAD standards to create ac and dc elementary diagrams — detailing operation of the protection and control equipment — in accordance with the final relay and instrumentation single-line diagram. These elementary diagrams are subsequently used to create panel layout, connection, and apparatus drawings. The connection drawings are used to create the bill of materials and bill of wire for the project. When included as part of the scope of work, Pro Watts’s expertise in the evaluation of control and protective device settings are used to achieve proper settings for system protection and coordination.
The process of developing the protection and control design is continually supported by engineering analysis and guidance. The substation battery and battery charger are sized in accordance with IEEE Standard 485 and current-carrying conductors are sized in accordance with NEC standards.
The final result is a design package that clearly and accurately defines the required construction work.
Pro Watts provides the construction team with a bill of material and an inventory of conductors to be installed, removed, or/and re-terminated. Pro Watts can generate bills to be either in our standard forms, or, if desired, or custom spreadsheets can be furnished. An overall bill of material is typically provided for cost estimating and purchasing.
Project documentation may utilize existing specifications. Or, as necessary, Pro Watts can custom-develop specifications to support the project. Project specifications complement the drawings and provide an unambiguous description of the construction requirements in terms of kind and quality, applicable industry standards and codes to be followed, and other details not readily communicated through the drawings. Accurate and complete drawings and specifications ensure communication of the design requirements to potential bidders. All bidders can thus plan to supply a finished project of the kind and quality desired. “Out-of-scope” charges are avoided, and bidders can offer their most competitive prices without having to hedge based on unknowns.
The maxim "You can't manage what you don't measure" is especially true for energy management. Pro Watts is focused on developing its competency in energy management, to deliver comprehensive energy audits and implementing improvement opportunities. In short, the audit is designed to determine where, when, why and how energy is being used, and how much energy is lost or wasted. This information can then be used to identify opportunities to improve efficiency, decrease energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.
Using scientific methods to collect data and years of experience in this field, our expert energy advisors define the energy-consuming system to be audited, prepare a list of all energy-consuming loads in the audit area and measure their consumption and demand, analyse energy consumption and costs, compare energy performance, profile energy use patterns, identify Energy Management Opportunities (EMOs), and then recommend potential energy and cost savings, along with any co-benefits to make your company as energy efficient as possible. The right energy audit will also open the door to any current or future utility and/or government incentive programs.
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