An increasing number of National Grid vehicles are being spotted in North Kingstown.

That’s because a new substation is being built and an older substation will be upgraded on the same parcel located at 1080 Ten Rod Road in Wickford, across from the Wickford Junction train station

One project will bring more solar generation to the grid. The other will rebuild an aging substation to increase reliability.  

“This new capacity will be able to help the state of RI meet their renewable energy goals by enabling more solar generation, helping to combat climate change,” said National Grid Project Manager Orlando Martinez.

Currently all that can be seen is a construction site. The land is being cleared, grading is taking place for an access road and prep work is underway to add a miles-long stretch of overhead and underground lines.

The clock is ticking for the Wickford Junction Substation. It’s slated to be online by December 31st, 2021. A tremendous amount of work is needed to be done by then.

The need for the Wickford Junction Substation was identified after multiple large-scale solar projects began to be developed in the southern portion of the state.  The new facility can help meet the need of more than 100MW of these large solar projects, with costs to be taken on by connecting developers. 

The significant load of interconnection capacity is something that National Grid is starting to see more of, said Orlando.  

“There has been an increase in interconnection for large solar farms,” Orlando explained. “These projects are required to interconnect to the distribution network in order to be eligible for participation in the state’s solar programs. I think the goals of the state and of National Grid are to implement more climate-friendly technologies and by having more solar generation available it should have a more positive effect on the environment.” 

While work is underway for the new Wickford Junction substation, the existing Lafayette substation, which sits just below the new substation, is also undergoing a retrofit. Rebuilding the fifty-year-old Lafayette station was the result of a new Rhode Island area planning study by National Grid’s Distribution and Asset Management team.

“This allows for increased reliability and it will have the capacity to continue to serve the area’s energy needs as the population density grows in this area. Not many people realize how increased loads can put additional strain and pressure on the existing Lafayette substation,” said National Grid’s Jeff Wagg. He’s overseeing the reconstruction of the Lafayette substation.

Wagg says it’s still too soon to have an exact deadline on when the Lafayette substation will be fully reconstructed. For now, transformers, switch gears, new connections, reconductoring circuits and new utility poles are going into the design elements.   

While Wagg notes that there are some inherent challenges in running two different projects on the same site, he and Orlando Martinez communicate frequently, and coordinate where possible to ensure efficiencies can be realized. 

“The nice thing about this is we can share lessons learned about the site and in theory we have better insight form the site, which makes it very unique,” said Wagg.

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