Siemens EATL & WATL Converter Stations

Two new 500KV electrical power transmission lines being built in Alberta Canada required four special substations to convert Direct Current to Alternating current. These Siemens substations were required in a very tight two month production schedule that tested both the fabricator and the galvanizer.

Manufacturing and galvanizing tolerances are famously strict in electrical substation work which further challenged the participants. Hundreds of steel supports and several lattice structures were needed and any slight variance from specification were grounds for rejection. Also even tiny protrusions caused by welding processes, punching burs or zinc accumulations create unacceptable Corona effect discharges that also occasion rejection, a major problem on remote job sites thousands of miles away.

The carefully controlled factory processes of both the fabricator and galvanizer insured quality work throughout. The high production capacity of the fabricator and galvanizer, both using multiple plants to maximize throughput resulted in rail cars carefully loaded with well packaged hot-dip galvanized steel arriving in Alberta after a 2,500 mile journey in perfect condition and right on time.

The project was completed ahead of schedule and while hot-dip galvanizing is nothing new to the electricity transportation industry this fast-track project highlighted the quick responding processing power of large bath, high capacity galvanizing plants to serve the just-in-time needs of end users in all kinds of large projects.