Forward Flow achieved at Pump Station 3

This message is from Jim F. Johnson, Pipeline Vice President, and Mike Joynor, Oil Movements Vice President.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of the startup of Electrification & Automation (E&A) equipment at Pump Station 9 (PS 9), which was a significant milestone for E&A and the future of TAPS. Today, February 12, 2008, with the restart of the E&A pumps at Pump Station 3, oil is now flowing through new E&A equipment at two of the planned four E&A pump stations. This occasion provides a good opportunity to reflect, and take a look ahead.

When we moved to a phased implementation of E&A at the pump stations, we decided to first start with PS 9. The facility was the most accessible of the E&A pump stations, and its proximity to the commercial power grid meant that we did not have to install onsite power generation, reducing construction time and startup complexity. Focusing on PS 9 made sense then, and in retrospect, it was the right move. During this past year, the E&A pumps at PS 9 have proved to be highly reliable. The commercial power provided by GVEA has also been reliable and has met our requirements.

We learned a great deal from working with the new systems and pumps at PS 9, and we were able to take lessons learned and successfully apply them to our subsequent work at Pump Station 3 (PS 3). Similarly, we expect many of these lessons to apply when E&A work resumes this year at Pump Station 4 (PS 4). This does not mean our E&A work at any of these sites has been or will be without bumps. This is a challenging project – the most significant on TAPS since pipeline construction. But we continue to deal with and work through challenges as they arise, even if it means slowing the pace at times. The recent decision to run PS 3 on legacy pumps while modifications were made to the Turbine Generators (TGs) is a good example of this. With those modifications complete, we have restarted the E&A pumps, and we plan to continue testing and monitoring their performance.

As we move ahead with E&A, finishing work at PS 9 and PS 3, resuming work at PS 4, and ultimately completing the implementation of the new system at Pump Station 1, we will maintain the same high expectations for safety, quality and performance that were such essential components of our groundbreaking work at PS 9. Many TAPS employees have contributed to this effort as it has unfolded – from those working in documentation, to the project engineers, to the technicians in the field, and many others along the way. On this notable anniversary of our efforts, we want to acknowledge the hard work that has been done.