This project involved the construction of a 34.5 kV collector system for 33 – 2300 kW Enercon wind turbines. The installation included provisions to allow easy extension of the collector system to add 17 future turbines. The final installed capacity of this site will be 115 MW.
The collector system consists of 21 km of trench, 69 km of 34.5 kV power cable, and 27 above ground fibreglass junction and splice boxes. The installation also included 23 km of fibre optic lines which are used as a communication link to monitor and control the turbines.
This project provided numerous and unique challenges, some of which included working with copper conductors tie-wrapped in a triplex configuration, as well as digging-in long narrow trench lines over long stretches of rolling hills; portions of which contained significant amounts of rock at various depths.
To ensure the longevity of the terminations, CANA Energy developed a Mobile Terminating Workspace (MTW). This is an environmentally controlled structure which allows for the highest precision and quality of terminations in order to ensure the integrity of the collector system. In addition, all cables were subjected to rigorous PD Testing; the MTW unit proved to be a valuable tool in ensuring that all terminations successfully passed this onerous test.