Petersburg Pilot

Swan-Tyee intertie

completed; power is flowing

November 26, 2009.

The $61 million Swan-Tyee Intertie is completed and is essentially operational, according to Southeast Alaska Power Agency director Dave Carlson. The intertie is a 57-mile powerline connecting Ketchikan to the Tyee Lake hydro plant in Bradfield Canal.

“Now that we’re interconnected, we have to make sure the Ketchikan Mayor’s toaster doesn’t get knocked off-line when the Petersburg Mayor is making his toast,” explained Carlson.

“For the most part, the initial tests went real well,” Carlson added. We have to fine-tune governors at the Swan Lake facility and add some communications links in Ketchikan, but we kept everyone’s power on during the testing.

Joe Nelson, Superintendent of Petersburg Municipal Power and Light echoed Carlson’s sentiments. “We’re very pleased with the testing results. The system is more stable than expected.”

Nelson said tests involved sending power loads both north to Tyee and south to Swan Lake along the intertie, and then dumping portions of the load abruptly with the expectation that power would remain on in Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg.

SEAPA is sending power over the lines during one shift per day, according to Carlson.

Of the two year construction project, Carlson said the largely grant funded project “has exceeded my most optimistic expectations.” We had good contractors, excellent designs and good project management. During the first construction season we completed the right-of-way clearing and tower foundation work. During the second season we installed the overhead towers, connectors and necessary substations.

The project was completed on-time and slightly under budget, according to Carlson.

The celebration over the completion of the intertie will have to wait until after the first of the year.

SEAPA offices and some staff will be moved from Anchorage to Ketchikan by January 15. They will occupy about 2,000 square-feet of space in the recently renovated White Cliff building.

After the move, work will proceed on the agency’s Integrated Resource Plan, which will identify and prioritize not only hydro projects, but other regional energy projects such as wind turbines, tidal and geothermal energy generated power.

Nelson said the agency will solicit input from anyone pursuing any type of energy project that could possibly wish to tap into SEAPA’s transmission lines.

Two major points of the plan are to set wheeling rates that would be charged for moving power across the lines and to establish technical requirements before someone can connect their project to our system, explained Nelson.