New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Feb. 2 unveiled a $24 million investment in projects to upgrade and modernize New York's power transmission system. The investment is tied to two multi-year contracts recently approved by the New York Power Authority for upgrades at substations connected to NYPA's St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project.
Cuomo’s office noted that the investments include digital sensors on equipment to help meet the governor's 2018 State of the State directive to transform NYPA into a fully digital utility.
The program will also deploy new technologies that increase efficiencies and productivity, lower costs and minimize downtime and outages, supporting Cuomo’s Reforming the Energy Vision strategy to transform the state's power grid into a cleaner, more resilient and affordable system for all New Yorkers, a news release from the governor’s office said.
The multi-year contracts of $14 million and $10 million will support the purchase of 35 high-voltage circuit breakers which are used to control and protect circuits along NYPA's more than 1,400 miles of transmission lines. The transmission modernization work also involves installing new surge arrestors, transformers, breakers and relays throughout the substations, covering more than 100 acres.
"We are dedicated to preparing New York's energy system for tomorrow, making it smarter, more digital and more resilient," said NYPA President and CEO Gil Quiniones. "Investments in our energy infrastructure, like these substation upgrades, will help ensure NYPA's operational reliability, performance and effectiveness for years to come enabling us to continue our mission of providing low-cost hydropower and innovative energy services to our customers and more New Yorkers."
Work is part of broader NYPA program
The work is part of NYPA's $726 million Transmission Life Extension and Modernization program, which was launched in 2012.
Other dimensions of the overall transmission modernization initiative include investing in smart-grid technologies for maximizing the efficiency of transmission facilities and for achieving greater situational awareness of power asset performance in variable conditions. These digital enhancements will help NYPA meet Cuomo's directive to become the first end-to-end digital utility in the nation.
NYPA's Transmission Life Extension and Modernization program, which extends to 2025, encompasses transmission assets in Central, Western and Northern regions of the state and constitutes projects that include refurbishing transmission line structures and upgrading power plant switchyards and substations.
NYPA owns and operates approximately one-third of the state's high-voltage power lines, and has transmission assets and facilities that date back to the 1950s and 1960s when it built its major hydroelectric power plants on the St. Lawrence and Niagara rivers.
NYPA's St. Lawrence-FDR Power Project allows NYPA to provide low-cost power as well as power proceeds to businesses in Northern New York and across the state.
Additional information on NYPA’s transmission projects is available here.
NYPA digital command center for assets
At the end of 2017, Cuomo announced the opening of a new, cutting-edge digitized power asset monitoring and diagnostic center at NYPA’s headquarters in White Plains, N.Y.
The new Integrated Smart Operations Center, or iSOC, will analyze the performance of NYPA's power generation assets and statewide network of transmission lines to identify problems and issues before they occur in an effort to prevent potential service outages and reduce repair and replacement costs.
The new center also advances the state's goal of having the first all-digital public power utility in the U.S.
