Power System Study Deliverables

Published:

By Jeff MacKinnon, P.Eng., PE
Now that you have decided on the project framework that you are going to go with and you understand the scope of the power system study, you need to prepare the list of deliverables.
[caption id="attachment_861" align="aligncenter" width="800"]Power System Report drafting Let's outline the power system study report[/caption]
There are 3 items that must be included in every report, and there are some things that should NEVER be included in a power system study report body. There are some sources of information that are important to have as backup to both you as the client to evaluate the consultants expertise in the area, and also to educate the non-electrical workers and managers in your company.

Power System Study Deliverables

The 3 overall deliverables that should be included at the end of the project are:

  • Power System Study Report, complete with recommendations
  • Updated drawings with any new information - onelines, switchgear drawings, etc.
  • Power System model in the software of your choice - complete with any custom libraries.

Depending on the scope of the study, you may want to include the following:

  • Capital Budget estimates to implement selected recommendations
  • Updated Electrical Safety Program Documents
    • Typically labels from the incident energy study
    • Updated information for Energized Work Permits

Now lets describe the critical parts of each of these.

Power System Study Report

We outlined the sections that will be included in the report when we discussed scope, but there we only mentioned the specific study results and a section for recommendations.
The report isn't the place to educate the reader about what the different studies are, the pro and cons of different methodologies, or discussing why it was a good idea to have the study completed. If the report will be distributed to people that don't have an electrical background and need to be brought up to speed, here's the tip I use at JMK Engineering:
Include appendices with articles and short whitepaper reports describing what the studies are and how they can be used. This keeps the report on topic, but expands the audience of the complete report.

Introduction

The introduction is the place in the report where the reader is orientated as to what this report is all about. The introduction should include the purpose and scope of the report, the methodology used to gather data and study the system, and standards that were referenced during the work. The sub-headings include:

  • Purpose
  • Scope
  • References
  • Definitions
  • Assumptions and Limitations
  • Project Methodology

Study Analysis Sections

Each study - short circuit, protection coordination, incident energy and load flow - will have their own chapter in the report.  Each of these will have the following sub-sections:

  • Introduction
    • Study specific scope items
    • Study specific source information - utility supply, motor loading assumptions for load flow, system configurations reviewed, etc
    • Thresholds used for warning and critical for the results.
  • Study Results
    • This is only a summary of the results including separate tables for the warning and the critical items.
  • Study Recommendations
    • These recommendations are for the what needs to be done, not the how.  It could be that all the critical lines need to be addressed, but it could be a procedural change (don't put the system in that configuration)

Appendices

This is where the report starts to grow. The appendices will include the complete analysis outputs for the various studies, including all TCCs for the protection coordination studies. The appendices should also include any pertinent source information that was used in developing the model and report. Here is an example list of appendices that I have included in past reports:

  • Original Proposal (including scope, etc)
  • Data Collection Sheets
  • Relevant Correspondence
    • With the client, utility, suppliers and anyone else that provided useful information that was used in the analysis.
  • Incident Energy Labels
  • What is Short Circuit, Selective Coordination, Incident Energy and Load Flows.
    • This is 4 different articles in one appendix.

Updated Drawings

Next the drawings that are affected by the study and its recommendations need to be updated. What I have found is the drawings lag behind the changes in the field over time, and during the data collection effort we find a number of conflicts, equipment added or removed and settings changed.  The power system study is the perfect opportunity to as-built all these drawings.
The oneline is always caught, but there are other drawings that should be looked at for inconsistencies.  These can include:
  • Threeline diagrams
  • Motor Schematics
  • Switchgear and MCC Drawings
  • Panel Schedules

Power System Model

If you are having an outside resource develop the model, we still recommend you receive a copy of the model and any custom library items electronically. Ideally this will be included on a thumbdrive and included in the report as an appendix.  The best reason for this is that the power system study report is not a static thing, as the system changes it will be updated, and per CSA Z462 and NFPA70E it should be updated no less than every 5 years. After doing all the work - and spending the money - to get the original completed, it is much easier to update with changes than go through the entire process every 5 years.
If the contractor moves along, or doesn't have good data retention practices, you will lose this data. Get a copy for your records.

Optional Deliverables

The list of deliverables is not exhaustive, and depending on the scope of the power system study you will include others.  Two that I recommend are capital budgets and electrical safety program updates.

Capital Budget Development

You likely have a capital budget cycle that is used to determine what capital projects will be completed in the coming years.  Based on the recommendations outlined  in the report, there are typically additional engineering and installation that will be needed to fulfill the recommendations and make the system safe. To develop these budgets there is some initial engineering design required, but the entire design does not need to be completed in most cases. To present a complete package to management, and allow business decisions to be made, the capital budget report should include the following for each recommendation:

  • Recommendation and why it is needed (Scope)
  • Options - if there are any
  • Capital cost for each option in today's dollars
    • This should include engineering, procurement, and installation/construction

If there are similar recommendations, like setting changes to relays, these can be grouped.

Electrical Safety Program Updates

If you included an incident energy study in your report, and you have an existing electrical safety program, you will want to make any necessary updates. This may include adding information to the energized work permits, adding new labels and updating the training information

Conclusion

The deliverables related to a power system study are not just labels and an output for the software. To be useful, informative, and actionable we need to include everything mentioned above.  A good consultant will include all the critical deliverables even if you haven't included them in the RFP, however the lowest price may cut out most of them and provide the bare minimum.
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