Central Power House Solar/BESS Upgrade Project
GPA was engaged by Next Generation Electrical to provide specialist power system design services for integration of renewable energy into a Remote Area Energy System (RAES) located in the APY lands in remote South Australia. The RAES provides power to very remote communities via a sparse 33kV overhead electrical network extending out hundreds of kilometres from the Central Power House (CPH). The RAES was powered exclusively via diesel generators which was both expensive, emissions intensive and at times unreliable.
The Department for Energy and Mining (DEM) embarked on a project to replace some of the existing diesel generated energy with new sources of renewable energy. The project involved the installation of ground mount solar PV (2.42MWp), as well as the installation of a new Battery Energy Storage System (1560kVA/1100kWh). The solar works in tandem with the existing diesel generators to reduce diesel fuel usage and associated emission, BESS is used in an energy swift application to reduce nightime running of the generation and improve grid stability.
GPA provided detailed design and procurement assistance for the new micro grid components and associated protection/control elements. To ensure the new micro grid is stable and has sufficient fault level and system strength GPA used specialist EMT modelling in PSCAD to verify the micro grid components and controls prior to implementation onsite.
GPA was engaged to perform the following as a part of the project:
- Power system modelling
- Load and transient data monitoring and analysis
- System strength analysis
- System protection study
- PVSyst and HOMER Pro modelling
- Microgrid operational philosophy
- Facilitated FMECA and SID Workshops
- Detailed design for the new renewables and HV equipment
The extent and sparsity of the 33kV network made the project technically challenging and complex. GPA’s specialist knowledge of power systems ensured the design was informed by sound technical analysis and will perform to meet energy demands once implemented.
