LA Metro
Wayside Flywheel Energy Storage Substation for Red Line
The Wayside Energy Storage Substation (WESS) utilizes innovative technology to capture the energy normally lost when a train slows or stops at the station. WESS captures and stores the energy that is usually lost to resistors or friction when a train decelerates, and then transfers that energy to a train as it starts or accelerates. The 2 MW Substation uses a mechanical flywheel device (pictured above on the right) that converts kinetic energy into electrical energy and vice versa and has produced significant savings for LA Metro.
Electrical design provided by Elcon included switchgear specifications and installation design. The detailed design includes conduit cable tray layout, grounding, and equipment interconnection diagrams. Elcon also developed test procedures and protection and controls for the WESS equipment. Revit was used to create basis architectural and electrical 3D models from as-built hand-drafted drawings. This included basic electrical equipment families and a complete color-coded layout.
Owner: Los Angeles County Metropolitan Authority
Location: Los Angeles, CA
