Gas-Insulated Substation Enhances Electric Grid Resilience in Illinois
Ameren Illinois customers are benefiting from a more reliable, resilient electric grid due to a new transmission substation located just west of downtown Belleville, Illinois. Ameren recently built and placed this substation in service to strengthen the local area's transmission system and reduce power outages.
The Goalby Substation is named in honor of Belleville native and PGA golfing legend Bob Goalby. It provides another intersection to reroute power as it flows through the region, allowing Ameren to more quickly restore power to customers during storms and similar situations that may interrupt their service.
"This substation is designed to make the energy grid around Belleville more reliable and secure," said Harman Ormani, Ameren's project manager for the Goalby Substation. "We carefully studied the layout of the transmission system and determined that building the facility here would provide valuable benefits to a large number of customers."
The Goalby Substation is the first gas-insulated substation (GIS) on Ameren's transmission system. Unlike traditional air-insulated substations, this GIS facility uses advanced equipment housed within compact, sealed enclosures. This design results in a footprint about one-third the size of a typical transmission substation, while still delivering the same or even greater capabilities.
That smaller footprint allowed Ameren to build the substation in an area located above old mine shafts running underground from legacy coal mining industries in Belleville.
"This GIS design allowed us to keep costs as low as possible for customers while maintaining the highest levels of safety, performance and reliability. The compact layout reduced the amount of engineering work required to mitigate possible issues caused by the mine," Ormani said. "It's a relatively unique situation. These GIS designs are typically built in very crowded downtown city blocks and other places where space is limited."
The project is also a point of pride for Dan Crockett, an Ameren substation engineer and lifelong Belleville resident who helped design the new substation.
“Working on this project that directly benefits my hometown has been incredibly meaningful. It's the first time in my seven-year career with Ameren that I've seen one of my projects being built in my community,” Crockett said. “I'm pleased to see Ameren investing in Belleville, and I'm confident this substation both enhances our customers’ reliability today and helps position our city for long-term success and growth."