Incirlik Innovation - Incirlik finishes voltage conversion upgrades

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Michael Battles
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Editor's note: This article is part of a series designed to highlight innovative ideas, programs and actions that have or can save the Air Force money as well as improve mission readiness.

With the mindset of saving money and improving processes in today's Air Force, the 39th Civil Engineer Squadron implemented a new power conversion system at Incirlik Air Base which coincides with Turkey's updated voltage system.

The transition, which began in May 2012, brought Incirlik's old 66,000 volt system in line with the Turkish Electricity Transmission Company's new 31,500 volt power grid.

Completed on June 21, 2015, the power conversion will save the Air Force roughly $3 million each month due to the reduction in commercial power usage and backup power plant cost. The conversion is also planned to reduce manpower needed to maintain the new system.

According to Artemiz Avci, 39th CES chief of maintenance engineering and planning, as the new 31,500 volt system became more prevalent across Turkey, maintenance and repairs on the 66,000 volt system became more problematic.

"The utility company advised Incirlik AB that spare parts for the 66,000 voltage systems were depleting and could result in delayed repairs and extended commercial outages," said Avci. "This situation was an unacceptable risk to the base's mission."

To aid in the transition to the new power grid, the 39th Air Base Wing implemented a series of four power outages from April through June to allow time for the 39th CES to make adjustments to the new system.

The first power outage on April 26, 2015 completed the installation of new lines between the transformer and base substation. The second power outage, which occurred May 10, allowed new control cables, grounding switch circuit breakers, surge protectors and associated relays for the new system to be installed. These two outages completed the Incirlik's transfer to the 31,500 power grid.

The additional two outages, which happened on May 31 and June 21, allowed for the old 66,000 volt transformers to be removed and time for the installation of backup generator for the new system. Furthermore, the final outage on June 21 provided the base an opportunity to finish connecting, testing and certifying the new installation.

Along with the $3 million saved each month due to the reduction in commercial power usage and backup power plant cost and reduction in manpower hours, Incirlik Air Base is now compliant with Turkey's country-wide 31,500 voltage power grid.

(Senior Airman Krystal Ardrey contributed to this article)