Case Study: Stanford University achieves reliable power islanding with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL)

Stanford University Installs Advanced Power System

Stanford University upgraded its main campus electric power substation to keep up with growing demand and improve resilience in the event of a fault. Working with Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL) and an engineering consultant, the university needed to modernize aging 50-year-old equipment and reconfigure protection and communications so the campus could operate as a power island using its existing cogeneration system.

SEL provided a protection, control, and monitoring solution centered on SEL relays, SEL-2100 Logic Processors, SEL-2505 Remote I/O Modules, and related communications and SCADA upgrades. The project replaced old oil-filled breakers with SF6 breakers, added redundant and fully coordinated relay protection, enabled remote control from the cogeneration plant, and created islanding capability for the campus. As a result, Stanford completed the upgrade without shutting down university facilities, improved maintenance switchability and fault isolation, and gained a more reliable system with better support for future growth.

Stanford University

Steve Briscombe

Power System Manager