New Standby Generator Enhances NIPCO's Reliability

NIPCO's nearly 50-year-old building will have a new auxiliary generator by the end of the year.

The new 150-kW diesel-powered, three-phase generator sits outside the building and will be capable of running 25 hours on its 309-gallon tank, powering all essential operations within the building. The new generator, painted a bright green, replaces a 100-kW single-phase generator installed inside the building in 1964 when the building was constructed, and another 20 kW generator added in 2000 to power all mission-critical computers in the headquarters building.

Parts are not readily available for the original building generator, although it starts faithfully at 6 a.m. every Monday for a 30-minute test run. The old generator will be sold once the switch-over has been made.

North West REC, electric service provider to NIPCO's headquarters facility, has installed a new transformer for the building's electric service and bored in new conduit from the pole. An electrical contractor has installed an automatic transfer switch (ATS) that detects a power outage, fires up the new generator and makes teh change to auxiliary power.

Part of the project includes installing all new breaker panels in the basement to upgrade the headquarters building's electric system. 

In the photo below, NIPCO staff unstrap the new standby generator after setting it in place with a boom truck.