Bangor, Maine – Over the past few years, major changes have been underway at Versant Power’s Orrington substation to improve system reliability. The substation serves the high voltage transmission system that transports bulk power through Versant's service territory. Improvements included a new control house and equipment within it, new circuit breakers and associated protective devices.

In 2020, a new control house was built at the substation along with new control panels, underground cable trenches and conduit banks. The control house has two ventilated battery rooms for backup power supply to control functions.

Cable trays are the mechanical systems that support electrical cables. “The cable trays at the Orrington substation became overloaded from decades of upgrades and additions,” said Versant Power’s Chief Operating Officer Paul Miller, “They needed to be ‘unloaded’ and returned to their rated capacity. This was accomplished by moving the controls for six circuit breakers to the new control house.”

Circuit breakers are electrical safety devices used for routine switching and to automatically shut off current flow when a fault is detected. Six circuit breakers at the substation dated back to the 1970s and were reaching end of life. They were also filled with oil, which Versant's Environmental team safely disposed of upon removal.

In 2021 and 2022, the breakers were replaced with more modern ones that are more environmentally friendly and require less maintenance. Upon replacement, the breakers’ controls were cutover to the new control house. New protective relays, devices designed to trip a circuit breaker when a fault is detected, were also installed.

Work at the Orrington substation is expected to be completed by Spring 2023. For more Versant Power news, please visit versantpower.com.