Stanton Station plans ‘real’ black out drill
Elk River, MN (September 29, 2000)- Great River Energy’s Stanton Station is presently undergoing a scheduled maintenance outage and this weekend, some employees will take advantage of this rare opportunity to conduct a black start drill in real blackout conditions. A black start drill is practicing those procedures necessary to bring the electric system back on-line after a total, regional blackout.
JoAnn Maloney, Stanton’s operations supervisor, said employees first tried this exercise during the last outage and it proved to be a great learning experience for everyone involved. Stanton undergoes a scheduled maintenance outage every two years.
“Several longtime employees had just retired and most of the operators were in new positions. In the past, we held simulation of the black start procedures during normal operation along with the MAPP (Mid-Continent Area Power Pool) System Restoration drills. The opportunity to follow the plant procedures from a complete blackout phase was a new experience,” Maloney said.
The black start drill mimics a complete blackout and startup. The first half of the drill tests operation of the battery back-up system and startup of the emergency generator used to energize the plant until station service can be restored. The second half of the drill simulates reestablishing station service from the transmission system and transferring energy from the emergency generator back to normal operating conditions, then preparing for plant start-up. The units won’t actually be started up due to the outage.
“During the start-up, we simulate complete blackout conditions which includes finding essential equipment in the dark with only flashlights to guide our way,” said Maloney. “Many of the breakers that must be racked out can only be operated during outage conditions. Good communication and coordination during the procedure is critical for both employee and equipment safety. The drill allows us to identify weaknesses in the procedure and in equipment.”
Maloney says in the case of a possible blackout, you hope for the best but plan for the worse. “The more we practice our procedures now, the more quickly we can restore electric service to our customers should a blackout occur.”
Headquartered in Elk River, Minnesota, Great River Energy is a consumer-owned generation and transmission cooperative and Minnesota’s second largest utility in terms of generating capacity. Great River operates two power plants in North Dakota, including Stanton Station, a 186 MW coal-fired power plant near Stanton and Coal Creek Station, a 1081 MW coal-fired power plant near Underwood. Great River Energy provides low-cost electrical energy and related services to its 29 member distribution cooperatives in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
