AltaLink outlines plans for convertor station near Langdon

Times Reporter

 

New project details regarding the AltaLink Transmission line have come out which affect the Langdon area. Currently just south west of Langdon there is an electrical substation. AltaLink plans to build a convertor station where the existing substation is, if the Alberta Utilities Commission, AUC, accepts the preferred route. 

“At the end of a DC (direct current) line, you do need a station to convert the power back and forth between AC (alternating current) and DC,” said Leigh Clarke, Senior Vice President, External Engagement for AltaLink.

There will be more equipment and parts at the existing substation, and part of the substation will have to move to accommodate the converter station. Clarke said the convertor station is still a type of substation. He said even if it were AC they would still need a bigger substation at either end of the line. 

“The advantage of the DC is the line itself is smaller, the towers are smaller and down the road it’s scalable,” said Clarke. 

Later on, as needed, equipment can be added at the convertor stations, increasing the amount of electricity being moved without going back and building more lines. Parts of the existing substation would move to the quarter section south of the existing station, if the preferred route were approved. Clarke said it would have to be moved because they would have to reconfigure a number of lines. He said there are a number of existing lines there currently. 

“It will mean trying to reduce the footprint in the area as much as possible and that may mean moving some of the lines… so that we’re as efficient as we can be in our use of the land,” said Clarke. 

He said they are planning to have an information session about the substation for the community, though they have not determined the date at this time. 

“We’re dedicated with trying, as with any of these facilities, to try to mitigate those effects as much as possible. We’re hopeful the effects will be minimal to begin with,” said Clarke. 

He said if people do have concerns about the converter station and/or the route, they will have a chance to address those concerns at the AUC application meeting. He does not feel it will affect the community. Clarke stated as far as he knows Langdon is not planning to expand to that area of land, and he doesn’t foresee it being a point of discontentment since they have grown with a substation nearby. 

“We’re fairly far removed from the town,” said Clarke. 

“The town has grown up around in the area of what was the Langdon substation. It is the logical electrical drop-off point for this electricity to supply, obviously Calgary, and communities like Strathmore, Langdon and all of southern Alberta,” said Clarke.

Clarke said there would likely be concerns about noise and lightning issues and they will address those issues as they have previously. The station is noisy, but only if a person is close to it. The telecommunications tower will have a light on it, which is angled upwards and is mainly meant to prevent airplanes from hitting it. He said they’ll probably replace the existing telecommunications tower with a new one, which will be approximately 250 feet tall. The converter station itself will look like a warehouse type of building and can measure up to 500 metres by 500 metres, though that would be the largest and is not what AltaLink is proposing for Langdon. If the optional route is approved, instead of the preferred route, the existing substation would remain where it is. In that case it would move away from the existing substation, but the convertor station would still be in the general vicinity. Clarke said they are still in consultations with landowners. He still anticipates AltaLink will file their application to the AUC in the first quarter of 2011.