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Entergy crews, contractors transfer and install massive transformer

Entergy crews, contractors transfer and install massive transformer
(Photo courtesy Entergy.)

Changing the way crews work during a pandemic doesn’t stop major projects from moving forward, no matter how big they are.

Entergy Corp. employees and contractors joined forces to transport a 100-ton transformer from Chalmette, Louisiana, to the utility’s Tricou substation in New Orleans. The addition of a second transformer at Tricou improves the New Orleans electrical systems reliability.

The 100 ton transformer was lifted into place on a flatbed truck and taken on a nearly three-mile journey to its new home. The four-hour transport was coordinated by a cross functional team from transmission, distribution, contractors with H. Brown Trucking and our customer service team.

Along the transport route, crews lifted wires for the transformer to pass through residential streets and with careful planning and execution, no customer interruptions were taken during the length of the transport.

“At Entergy New Orleans, we are  committed to taking strategic and proactive steps to help ensure that our customers have the power to light their homes, keep it cool in the summer and heated it in the winter, no matter what storm we face,” said David Ellis, Entergy New Orleans president and CEO. “This project is one of the many ways we are working to upgrade our transmission and distribution system with a focus on expansion, efficiency, storm resiliency and reliability.”

Earlier in May, Entergy Chief Operating Officer Paul Hinnenkamp talked during a Power Engineering webcast about how the utility is forced to adopt new response protocols in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. New Orleans was hit especially hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Entergy service territory along the Gulf Coast and in Arkansas was hit with major storms right around the time of the economic shutdown and social distancing to limit COVID-19’s sweep. Customers obviously needed and expected their electricity to return, so Entergy’s crews and contractors responded while acting through new policies and protocols.

“It was a heck of a challenge,” Hinnenkamp recalled during the May webcast. “There was just so many issues from a logistics perspective.”

The “Managing your Workforce during a Pandemic” webcast is free and available by registering here. It also featured ComEd President and COO Terry Donnelly and Derin Blumh, CTO of Grant County Public Utility District in Washington state.

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Click here to see Power Engineering’s complete coverage on the COVID-19 impact on utilities and the power generation sector.

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