INTEGRATED REFINERY CASE STUDY

Winter is Coming: Temporary Backup Power for A Large Saskatchewan Refinery

With winter on the way, forward-thinking businesses are preparing for the worst so that their bottom lines will be protected no matter what the season brings.

A big part of that preparation is ensuring that backup power will be available to support critical functions in the case of an outage. Not only does cold and stormy winter weather make power outages more likely, it also means that the consequences of those outages will be more severe.

And that’s to say nothing of the strain cold weather can put on existing equipment.

It’s no wonder that a recent client — a large refinery complex located in Saskatchewan — has made it a top priority to ensure they have a reliable backup temporary power system in place to protect their business over the winter months.

The Client: One of Canada’s Largest Integrated Refinery Facilities

Founded in 1935 by a handful of enterprising farmers, this facility is one of Canada’s largest integrated oil refining and upgrading complexes. Spread over 544 acres in the province of Saskatchewan, the facility, which at its founding, produced 500 barrels of crude oil daily, now produces 130,000 barrels per day, and distributes 17 million litres per day.

The complex strives to be an industry leader in safety and sustainability.

The Challenge: Backup Power to Handle a Saskatchewan Winter

With winter on its way, our client wanted to ensure they had a reliable, robust backup power system in place during the winter months so that they would be prepared in the case of another major outage. Because of the facility’s size and production capacity, the consequences of a possible failure would simply be too great; they wanted temporary power that would be ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Our Approach: Flexing Our Inventory Muscle

Our client reached out to several major temporary power distributors in Canada, but with a limited supply of generators available in Western Canada, it was Trinity Power, with our nation-wide vendor network and extensive in-house inventory, who came through.

Between our locations in Mississauga and Leduc, we were able to source a 500kW generator with 100 feet of cable to feed the 600V loads at the facility; we also sourced a 2MW generator and 2.5MVA-13.8kV transformer with 100 feet of cable to feed the site’s 13.8kV loads.

Completing the package, the Trinity team delivered the equipment to the facility — all within our client’s project timeline.

The Result: A Robust Backup System, At the Ready

With two high-quality generator rentals and a transformer on site that have been extensively tested and built to withstand deep cold and severe storms, our client can now turn their focus to the task of conducting business as usual.

They now have the peace of mind of knowing that if an outage happens, they have the backup power they need, and the Trinity team on speed-dial, ready to respond 24/7.