Case Study: Barrie Hydro improves substation protection, automation, and reliability with SEL relays and communications processors

Relays and Communications Processors Help Energize Barrie Hydro Expansion, Automation, and Transition to Open Market

Barrie Hydro, the electric power distributor serving Barrie, Ontario and nearby communities, needed to modernize its protection, communications, and automation systems after Ontario’s deregulation reshaped the utility market. To support expansion and improve reliability, safety, and customer service, Barrie Hydro chose Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) microprocessor-based relays and the SEL-2030 Communications Processor for substation protection and data collection.

SEL helped Barrie Hydro build an integrated SCADA-ready platform using SEL-351A feeder relays, SEL-351-7 main breaker relays, SEL-387-5 differential relays where needed, and SEL-2030 data concentrators connected through licensed radio, unlicensed radio, and fiber. The new system let operators remotely control about 20 substations, reduce or eliminate many crew dispatches for remote holdoffs, speed fault location, and avoid dangerous site entry, delivering major cost savings, better safety, and improved outage response.

Barrie Hydro

Doug Fairchild

Engineering Planner