Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative this week will begin to rebuild the Lydgate Substation, which has corroded due to salt-laden, onshore tradewinds. The substation, which serves portions of Wailua and Kapa‘a, is being rebuilt to minimize environmental effects and will include
Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative this week will begin to rebuild the Lydgate Substation, which has corroded due to salt-laden, onshore tradewinds.
The substation, which serves portions of Wailua and Kapa‘a, is being rebuilt to minimize environmental effects and will include increased capacity to handle future growth in the area.
Existing loads are being transferred to Kapa‘a and Kapaia Substations during the reconstruction period.
“We are looking toward long-term solutions instead of quick fixes,” said Jack Leavitt, KIUC transmission and distribution manager. “It’s an investment and a quantum leap in reliability.”
The newly built substation will have an indoor design utilizing gas-insulated switchgear for the transmission section, while metal-clad vacuum switchgear will handle distribution energy from two new power transformers to be installed on the mauka side of the building, shielded them from the trades.
All protective relaying will be microprocessor-based, and fiber optics will supply communications.
TOMCO Corp. was the successful bidder and was selected as the contractor. The construction phase should be completed by mid-2009.
