Nexus Completes Multi-Level Substation Design Project

Nexus team replaced an antiquated substation unit for increased reliability and safety with reduced operational costs for a chemical processing client.

Overview

Nexus’s client is the world’s largest provider of crop inputs, services, and solutions. The client commissioned Nexus to work on a substation project that increased capacity and improved the overall reliability of the electrical infrastructure, which was nearing the end of its service life. The project also provided an opportunity for the site to benefit from the standardization of equipment.

The Nexus team designed a new, multi-level substation that improved operations safety through the state-of-the-art short circuit, arc flash, and ground fault protection as well as new inherently safer designed switching equipment.

Challenge

The site needed a larger substation because of new power and reliability demands, but the space for the current substation would not accommodate the size of the larger piece of equipment. The team would need to explore multiple options for fitting the new piece of equipment in the current footprint.

Additionally, at this site, the Nexus team needed to work with the client to understand future energy needs so that the new equipment would be suitable for expansion.

Solution

The Nexus team determined that the most viable option to fit the client’s needs would be to build a multi-level substation instead of the traditional single-level design. The engineering team designed the substation with adequate electrical and physical capacity to accommodate future loads, as there may be plans for expansion. Once the team designed a multi-level substation, the team utilized laser scanning and 3D modeling to design a new structure that would accommodate the larger equipment.

The Nexus team was able to successfully complete this project within the expected budget and schedule. This new substation has improved the safety and reliability of the client’s electrical infrastructure, short circuit, arc flash, and ground fault protection.

Client Name 

Confidential

Location 

Midwest USA

Industry

Energy & Chemicals

Services  

• Substation Design
• Electrical Engineering
• Arc Flash
• Ground Fault Protection
• Electrical Infrastructure
• Equipment Standardization
• Laser Scanning
• 3D Modeling