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
Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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).
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
Figure I: Hydro's Telecommunication Network
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Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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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
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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.
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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Replace MDR 6000 Microwave Radio (West)
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
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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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
Newfoundland and Labrador Hydro
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