Substation A is located at 21500 E Truman Rd, Independence, Missouri 64056 adjacent to the retired Blue Valley Power Plant. Due to the retirement of the Blue Valley Power Plant a MVAR deficiency was created per the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) planning standards. As a result, additional reactive resources are needed to replace the Blue Valley Power Plant generator VAR supply with a switched capacitor bank sized at 20 MVAR.
Substation A serves as a major hub and was determined as the most efficient location for an additional 20 MVAR capacitor bank. No customers are served from this substation, as it is a transmission substation with no distribution emanating from it.
The capacitors ideally should have been online when the generators were retired, which occurred June 1, 2020. The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) sets guidelines for the reactive power (VARS) that each participant must supply to the pool. Based on the current schedule, installation should start by June 1, 2021, which is reportedly acceptable with SPP.
The MVAR deficiency must be remedied to comply with SPP requirements. The City remains open to potential fines if found in non-compliance when audited. The deficiency may also result in voltage issues during high demand periods.
The capacitor bank addition project for Substation A will include a new 69kV 20MVAR capacitor bank installed at a decommissioned transformer location. IPL is planning to reuse the 69kV circuit breaker and disconnect switch currently in use for those transformers, with verification and confirmation from the Consultant. New capacitor bank protection will also be installed in this project per IPL relay philosophies. Engineering services will include specification creation for the construction as well as major materials.
To secure engineering services. three firms were contacted from the City’s pre-qualified architect and engineers list. The three firms contacted were Black & Veatch, Burns & McDonnell, and Toth & Associates. Black & Veatch chose not to provide qualifications. Both Burns & McDonnell and Toth provided a qualifications package as requested. Burns & McDonnell for the Substation A Capacitor Bank addition project provided the best value consisting of experience and available resources.
The Burns & McDonnell proposal of $135,731.65 is $190,968.35 below the engineer’s estimate of $326,700.00. Approval of this item authorizes Power & Light to approve change orders up to 10% of the approved amount.