Aiming to improve reliability and prepare for future growth in the Bolivar Peninsula in Galveston County, Texas, Entergy Texas has embarked on a $110 million upgrade to its energy production facilities to withstand 150 mph winds during hurricanes.

“We need more load serving capability to serve all of the growth in the area, but while we are doing that, we also are improving the reliability and strengthening the system along the peninsula,” said Jim Nicholson, Capital Projects Manager for Entergy Texas.

A popular tourism area, Bolivar Peninsula has attracted new resorts and communities. The population of the county has increased from 291,309 people in 2010 to 361,744 in 2023, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

The project, located in Crystal Beach, Texas, represents a portion of Entergy Texas’ continuing work to improve service. Galveston is on the other side of Galveston Bay from the Bolivar Peninsula, with ferry service between the two locations.

A subsidiary of Entergy Corp. of New Orleans, Entergy Texas provides electrical service to more than 512,000 customers in 27 counties. The company has served the region for 30 years and employs more than 1,000 people.

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“The work being done for residents on the Bolivar Peninsula is one of the largest investment projects across the Entergy Texas service territory,” Nicholson said.

Entergy Texas generates the electricity in other locations and brings it on transmission lines from Winnie, Texas, to the company’s High Island substation. From there, the company has served the peninsula by a single 34.5 volt (kV) sub-transmission feeder, built 20 years ago, to its Bluewater and Sandy Shores substations. Electricity serves as the area’s sole source of heating and cooling. No natural gas is available.

“If we do not have power flowing for them, they do not have lights on or air conditioners running,” Nicholson said.

Construction on the Bolivar Peninsula Reliability Project began with clearing vegetation in June 2023. The project will double the utility’s load serving capacity and add resiliency. Entergy Texas is adding self-healing networks able to detect and isolate outages when they happen. This can limit the number of customers affected by the outage.

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“With the growth on the peninsula and the importance of resiliency, Entergy Texas is being proactive in investing in a growing community,” Nicholson said.

Among the challenges facing this project is that it’s on a peninsula with only one highway next to the coast from which crews and heavy, oversized equipment can enter and exit. The location on the coast has led to some wind and lightning delays. The team worked weekends, but not holiday weekends, because of the vacation traffic on that single highway.

Black & Veatch, with offices in Houston, Texas, provided engineering, procurement, and construction services. The firm used some subcontractors. Funding for the project came from Entergy Texas.

The new substations and distribution lines are rated to withstand 150 mph winds, a Category 4 hurricane. The extra resilience already has been put to the test, when Hurricane Beryl (a Category 1 storm) hit the peninsula this summer. More than 250,000 Entergy Texas customers system wide lost power, 2,000 on the peninsula.

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That storm destroyed 16 of the existing wooden poles, which were installed 20 years ago. None of the new equipment suffered any damage.

That is due to “the new standards to protect the resiliency of our equipment,” Nicholson added.

Residents of the area expressed appreciation for Entergy Texas’ efforts to quickly restore power, the company’s communication about the status of the restoration, and plans for the upgraded system. In fact, Entergy Texas received a key to the City of Conroe for surpassing expectations on its hurricane response.

“If we had had the project completed, they likely would not have lost power with Beryl,” Nicholson said.

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Entergy Texas began construction with building the Palms and Port Bolivar substations in June 2023. The work entailed driving piles and elevating the substations. Entergy Texas anticipates completing the new substations in fall of this year.

At the Palms substation, crews drove 187 piles 80 feet deep. And at Port Bolivar, the team drove 90 piles 80 feet deep to give the substations something strong to rest on in areas where the soil is weaker. Crews have built the new substations on platforms supported by chain wall, load-bearing walls sitting atop the deep pile foundations.

“They are 20 foot in the air to protect against storm surge, so the substation does not get swamped when storms come along,” Nicholson said.

Entergy Texas has begun placing its substations on high platforms in hurricane-prone areas. Once crews complete the platforms, they build standard substations on top, using large cranes to lift everything into place.

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The company also has upgraded the High Island substation, on the far eastern side of the property, with a new bay and an additional 138kV power transformer to feed the new 34.5kV line, which is under construction. The new line is using composite poles to meet the 150 mph resiliency rating. The second line will provide more reliability to the growing community.

Crews will update and replace reclosers on the existing substations. Reclosers act like circuit breakers to turn off the power if they identify faults and react to isolate the fault at the substation. The team is adding new reclosers at the new substations and along the 34.5kV line.

Three of the four substations will be connected to both the existing 34.5kV line and the new 34.5kV line. The fourth, new substation sits too far down to connect it to the existing line. It will attach to the new line.

Distribution line construction began in November 2023, adding approximately 25 miles of a second line to serve the peninsula.

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The work entails building 6 miles of new underground line and 19 miles of new overhead line, which will connect the two existing and two new substations. Crews are attaching the new line to poles along the route, using vertical construction. The new line sits away from the existing line. The new one is rated to withstand 150 mph winds to help with reliability during storms. The work required using slurry guns at some of the holes.

Entergy Texas decided to place 6 miles of the new line underground due to a narrow right-of-way in the area.

“Both overhead lines would have been right next to each other, and for reliability purposes, you do not want those sources right next to each other,” Nicholson said. “One problem could cause problems on both lines.”

The team followed routine wetland protocols to protect the environment. Prior to the start of construction, Entergy Texas completed an environmental survey, looking for Black Rail birds, an endangered species that lives in habitats such as this. However, the survey found no birds or nests, so it did not affect the project.

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Entergy Texas has deployed drones to take progress photos. The company anticipates this project will complete in summer of next year. However, residents need not wait until then.

“As soon as we start putting substations on, that will give us more reliability and resiliency,” Nicholson said. “Every time we energize something new, [customers] receive incremental benefits from it.”

The company anticipates starting to serve customers across the Bolivar Peninsula with the new equipment this coming summer.

“I am proud of the team’s hard work, making people’s lives better and the system better,” Nicolson said. “Knowing we are helping people is really rewarding.”

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Photos courtesy of Entergy Texas