Alstom Grid has completed a section switches substation project with ENDESA Generación, revisiting a successful project with new engineering solutions

Customer intimacy means working with the customer from start to finish, finding the right solution to their needs. Recently, Grid was challenged by Madrid-based ENDESA Generación to motorise section switches within a 66kV substation at the Las Salinas 2 diesel power plant, near Puerto del Rosario, on the island of Fuerteventura. The project is part of ENDESAs ongoing efforts to increase the safety and efficiency of its power grids across the Canary Islands.

ENDESA contacted Alstom Grid because the original section switches, installed in 1982, were produced by Alstom Spain, under its former name AEG. But while the client wanted to keep the switches in place, their manual operation had proved expensive. Plus, the number of people involved and the time needed for each manoeuvre meant a risk in terms of security. Working closely with ENDESA, Grid developed the engineering needed to install a motor over the manual section switches with a control box to check the signals. At the same time Grid conducted necessary maintenance on the installation.

Commissioned in March, the Las Salinas project further confirms Alstom Grid´s Service unit as a competent centre for specialised section switches. But it also validates Alstom´s continuing focus on customer satisfaction: building long-term relationships based on trust and confidence. In a letter congratulating Alstom for the completion of this project, Angel Jesus Rodriguez Rodriguez, Subdivision of Engineering R+D and Project Manager for Endesa's global project to improve the network in the Canary Islands, said: I would like to thank the Alstom team for this big success during the testing and commissioning of these improvements in the 66kV Salinas substation". This works means a considerable improvement in the security, operability and maintenance of the installation.