(WEST) REPLACE MDR 6000 MICROWAVE RADIO - Pub · 3.10 Safety Performance 8 ... and generating...

REPORT TOTHE BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS OF PUBLIC UTILITIES

Electrical

$r Mechanical

Civil

,

;IS

oI " iAs

400: Protection & Control

Transmission & Distribution

Telecontrol

System Planning

REPLACE MDR 6000 MICROWAVE RADIO(WEST)

April 2010

newfoundland labrador

h d roa nalcor energy company

Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)

Table of Contents

1

INTRODUCTION 1

2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2

3

EXISTING SYSTEM 33.1

Age of Equipment or System 63.2

Major Work and/or Upgrades 63.3

Anticipated Useful life 63.4

Maintenance History 63.5

Outage Statistics 63.6

Industry Experience 73.7

Maintenance or Support Arrangements 73.8

Vendor Recommendations 73.9

Availability of Replacement Parts 73.10 Safety Performance 83.11 Environmental Performance 83.12 Operating Regime 8

4

JUSTIFICATION 94.1

Net Present Value 94.2

Levelized Cost of Energy 94.3

Cost Benefit Analysis 94.4

Legislative or Regulatory Requirements 94.5

Historical Information 104.6

Forecast Customer Growth 104.7

Energy Efficiency Benefits 104.8

Losses during Construction 104.9

Status Quo 104.10 Alternatives 10

5

CONCLUSION 125.1

Budget Estimate 125.2

Project Schedule 13

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro


1

INTRODUCTION

The scope of this project includes the replacement of obsolete Alcatel MDR-6000

microwave radio equipment. This equipment is used to support the operation of

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro's generating and terminal stations by providing high

speed communications for teleprotection, Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition

(SCADA), voice and administrative data.

Newfoundland and Labrador Hydra

Page 1


2

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

This project will replace the low capacity microwave radio equipment installed in 1999 that

has reached the end of its useful life. These radio links serve to connect remote terminal

and generating stations to the main high capacity microwave radio system connecting the

Energy Control Centre in St. John's to the Bay d'Espoir Hydro Generating Station. The

Corporate locations serviced by these finks include the Hinds Lake, Granite Canal, and Upper

Salmon hydroelectric generating stations, and the terminal stations at Deer Lake and

Buchans.


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3

EXISTING SYSTEM

This project is required to replace five links of existing obsolete microwave radio equipment

for the Western portion of Hydro's communications system. These links are:

1. Sandy Brook Hill (SBH) to Mary March Hill (MMH)

2. Mary March Hill (MMH) to Blue Grass Hill (BGH)

3. Blue Grass Hill (BGH) to Deer Lake Terminal Station (DLK)

4. Mary March Hill (MMH) to Buchans Terminal Station (BUC)

5. Bay D'Espoir Hill (BDH) to Godaleich Hill (GDH)

Each link consists of an Alcatel MDR-6000 16 DS1 radio at site for a total of ten radios

proposed to be replaced. These radios carry the critical communications traffic necessary

for the operation and support of the power grid including high speed teleprotection,

remote control Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), voice and administrative

data. These links form an extension to the higher speed microwave chain across the Island

used for control of the Island Interconnected System and are integral to the safe and

efficient operation of the system. Teleprotection is a high speed (3 milliseconds between

the sending and receiving of a signal), automatic function used to isolate specific

transmission lines in the case of line or equipment failure to prevent the collapse of the

grid. SCADA is used for monitoring and Automatic Generation Control (AGC) and manual

operation of the power system from the Energy Control Center (ECC) in Hydro Place in St.

John's.

These high speed communication links also provide the communications path to other

lower speed communications using power line carrier for links requiring less bandwidth.

The microwave system provides the communications backbone.

Only the radios for these links are proposed for replacement. The site buildings, power

systems, towers, antennas and waveguide are not being replaced at this time. Figure 1 is a


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map of Hydro's telecommunication network and shows the location of the five links to be

replaced in relation to the complete telecommunications network.

In order to extend the life of the MDR-6000, Hydro is currently replacing the MDR-6000 link

between Hind's Lake Hydroelectric Generating Station and Blue Grass Hill microwave site, in

a project approved by Board Order No. P.U. 36 (2008). It is Hydro's intention to use the

parts from the equipment removed under this project as spares for its remaining MDR-6000

equipment. As well, in August of 2009, modules in the Godaleich Hill-Upper Salmon link of

MDR-6000 radio failed and were no longer repairable due to the unavailability of necessary

components. There were also no remaining working spare modules in inventory. Hydro

applied for permission to replace this link as an unbudgeted capital project, which was

approved by Board Order No. P.U. 40 (2009).


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Figure I: Hydro's Telecommunication Network

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Telecommunication Network

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3.1 Age of Equipment or System

The Alcatel MDR-6000 microwave radio equipment was installed in 1999.

3.2 Major Work and/or Upgrades

There have been no major upgrades to this equipment since installation.

3.3 Anticipated Useful life

Microwave radio equipment is depreciated over 10 years. This equipment has been

discontinued by the manufacturer, Alcatel-Lucent since 2002.

3.4 Maintenance History

The five-year maintenance history for the microwave radio system is shown in Table 1.

Table 1: Five-Year Maintenance History

Year PreventiveMaintenance

CorrectiveMaintenance

TotalMaintenance

($000) ($000) ($ 000)

2005

_ 5.2 14.6 19.8

2006 7.0 36.7 43.7

2007 4.1 12.8 16.9

2008 2.2 27.4 29.6

2009 3.7 21.0 24.7

3.5 Outage Statistics

Because of the redundant design of the equipment, module failures do not cause total

system outages. The MDR-6000 is designed with redundancy in order to achieve the


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reliability required for power system protection. Therefore, failure of one module will not

necessarily cause the complete system to fail. However, modules must be replaced when

failure occurs in order to maintain the integrity of the system.

3.6 Industry Experience

Other users of MDR-6000 radio are facing similar issues regarding availability of spare parts.

Hydro has been approached by several vendors interested in purchasing any parts that are

available. In 2009, the manufacturer approached Hydro on behalf of a large United States

telecommunications carrier that was interested in purchasing all of Hydro's MDR-6000

radios in order to extend the life of its own network.

3.7 Maintenance or Support Arrangements

The MDR-6000 is supported by the manufacturer on a "best effort" basis only. The

manufacturer will repair modules if the spare components can be attained. In the past

couple of years, defective modules have been irreparable owing to the unavailability of

required electronic components.

3.8 Vendor Recommendations

The manufacturer recommends replacement of the MDR-6000 because of the unavailability

of spare parts.

3.9 Availability of Replacement Parts

Replacement parts are not available from the manufacturer. Some used components may

be available from third party equipment resellers. These are not adequate in Hydro's

system because of its criticality to the operation of the power system.


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3.10 Safety Performance

There are no safety performance issues associated with this project.

3.11 Environmental Performance

There are no environmental performance issues associated with this project.

3.12 Operating Regime

The equipment is required to operate continuously.


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4

JUSTIFICATION

This project is justified on the requirement to replace failing infrastructure in order for

Hydro to provide safe, least-cost, reliable electrical service. The microwave radio

equipment being replaced has exceeded its useful life and must be replaced.

Hydro will still have MDR-6000 radio in service at four other terminal stations and two

generating stations after this project is complete. Hydro will use the equipment removed as

part of this project as spare parts to extend the life of the remaining MDR-6000.

4.1 Net Present Value

A net present value calculation was not performed as there is no viable alternative to

replacing the MDR 6000 radio.

4.2 Levelized Cost of Energy

This project has no effect on the levelized cost of energy since no new generation source is

being considered.

4.3 Cost Benefit Analysis

As there are no quantifiable benefits, a cost benefit analysis was not performed.

4.4 Legislative or Regulatory Requirements

There are no legislative or regulatory requirements for this project.


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4.5 Historical Information

This is not a recurring project so historical information is not applicable to this project.

4.6 Forecast Customer Growth

This project has no effect on customer growth.

4.7 Energy Efficiency Benefits

There are no energy efficiency benefits associated with this project.

4.8 Losses during Construction

There are no anticipated losses during construction.

4.9 Status Quo

The status quo is unacceptable. Microwave radio is an essential part of the control of the

Island Interconnected System that allows Hydro to remotely operate its generation and

transmission facilities. This equipment must be replaced before it fails and cannot be

repaired.

4.10 Alternatives

In this instance, no viable alternatives exist. In some instances, fibre optics cable is a cost-

effective alternative to microwave radio. For instance, the microwave radio between Blue

Grass Hill and Hind's Lake Generating Station is being replaced in 2010 with fibre optics

because of the short length of the link (approximately 14 km), combined with the need to

upgrade the Hinds Lake Passive Repeater site. Fibre optic cable installation is the least cost


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alternative for that scope of work. Fibre optic cable is not considered for the replacement

of the MDR 6000 microwave radio equipment since the distances between sites are long

enough that it is not cost effective, and existing microwave tower infrastructure greatly

reduces the cost of microwave radio compared to fibre optics.


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5

CONCLUSION

Hydro has strived to ensure that it has obtained the maximum possible life from its MDR

6000 microwave radio equipment while at the same time maintaining high availability of

the telecommunication network. This equipment must be replaced before failures render it

unusable.

5.1 Budget Estimate

The budget estimate for this project is shown in Table 2.

Table 2: Budget Estimate

Project Cost:($ x1,000) 2011 2012 Beyond Total

Material Supply 0.0 15.0 0.0 15.0

Labour 36.8 83.2 0.0 119.9

Consultant 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Contract Work 23.6 399.1 0.0 422.7

Other Direct Costs 3.6 39.0 0.0 42.7

O/H, AFUDC & Escln. 8.0 87.0 0.0 95.0

Contingency 0.0 60.0 0.0 60.0

TOTAL 72.0 683.3 0.0 755.3


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5.2 Project Schedule

The anticipated project schedule is shown in the Table 3.

Table 3: Project Schedule

Activity Milestone

Project Commencement February 2011

Design Complete July 2011

Procurement Complete March 2012

Installation Commencement April 2012

Installation Complete August 2012

Project Complete October 2012


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(WEST) REPLACE MDR 6000 MICROWAVE RADIO - Pub · 3.10 Safety Performance 8 ... and generating...

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