The US Bureau of Reclamation has awarded US firm Gardner Zemke a $26 million construction contract to replace transformers at the Grand Coulee Dam on the Colombia River in Washington state.
The contract is part of a wider project to refurbish the power plant, which has installed capacity of 6.5 GW and which supplies electricity to more than 1 million homes in northwestern USA.
Under the contract, New Mexico-based Gardner Zemke will replace six transformers at the dam’s Third Power Plant. The transformers presently in use have been in continuous service since 1975, are in a deteriorating condition and are considered to be unreliable, according to the Bureau of Reclamation.
In addition to furnishing and installing six new transformers, the contract will require removal and storage or disposal of the existing transformers, and modifications necessary to accommodate the installation and operation of the new transformers.
“The Third Power Plant improvements are needed to ensure continued operation and reliability to provide electrical power in the Pacific Northwest,” said Reclamation Commissioner Michael Connor. “The economic impact of interrupted public power generation would be substantial if these generating units are not repaired.”
