The construction of a new 40 MMcfd (million-cubic-feet-per-day) cryogenic natural gas processing plant near Gillette, WY was an import project for both Kenny Electric and Evolution Midstream. It represented a flagship facility design, to serve as a model for future phases within Evolution’s midstream group.
The assignment faced many challenges from the outset. First, the project needed to reach completion within a narrow time-frame of three months, to meet commitments made to upstream end users. Also, winter weather and the facility’s remote location was a factor for the workforce, causing some sub-contractors to miss their scheduled obligations. Finally, the project was forced to start with just 70 percent of the engineering plans vetted, so much of the missing information had to be identified, documented, and corrected in the field.
Kenny Electric carefully managed project work in several ways. First, working with incomplete engineering schematics meant our team worked from a position of design/build. Kenny Electric worked closely with the ownership group and project team to identify missing cables and instruments while keeping the P&ID (piping and instrumentation diagram) redlined. Kenny Electric also made recalculations to the cable size to prevent voltage drops. Finally, managing weather conditions, project schedules were coordinated to take advantage of favorable conditions, reserving indoor work for inclement times.
The industrial plant project involved laying over 4,000-feet of cable tray, 43.5 miles of cable, and nearly five miles of conduit. It took over 42,000 workforce hours to complete the project in the compressed time-frame, yet had zero recordable worksite injuries.
“Safety is at the heart of our culture,” stated Dave Pavelka, President of Kenny Electric. “Our ability to overcome challenging obstacles, while also maintaining our focus on safety is what our clients most appreciate about us.”
The Jewell Gas Plant is located in the heart of central Wyoming’s South Powder River basin. Wood Group oversaw civil and mechanical construction. The Jewell facility was the first to be built in Wyoming in six years and anticipates processing expansion to reach 100 MMcfd in 2019 to meet the growing needs of producers in the region.
