The addition of the substations is as part of the Greater Springfield Reliability Project, which is designed to address transmission system overload and meet current federal and regional reliability standards.
Siemens will provide all engineering, design, assembly, construction and commissioning activities for the GITL portion of the project.
The company will construct five circuits at two air-insulated substations (AIS) located 17 miles apart in Massachusetts and Connecticut for a total length of one mile.
Northeast Utilities will implement GITL technology at two different substations: the Agawam substation will contain two circuits at 345kV and two circuits at 115kV, while the North Bloomfield substation will utilize one circuit at 345kV.
The GITL will run underground and then connect to above-ground bushings on both AIS.
Construction of the substations in Massachusetts started late 2010 and will start in Connecticut in late 2011.
