brett whisson - horizon power
TRANSCRIPT
Standalone Power Systems:
Disaster Recovery in Esperance, Western Australia
Horizon Power:
• Vertically integrated
• Covers all of WA except for
South West Interconnected
System
• 50 km2 per customer
• 38 systems including 32
microgrids
This presentation
What is a Standalone Power System (SPS)?
• Depends on who you ask
• We are referring to a power system that comprises:
– Hybrid diesel/solar/battery power source; and
– No grid, no connection to utility-owned distribution system.
• Usually a single customer, but
not always
Why SPS?
• To avoid expensive reinvestment at the fringes of the network
– When a network asset is due to be replaced/upgraded
– When the network asset is damaged
• To find a cost effective solution for customers not on the grid
– Cheaper for the customer
• Complimentary solution – network isn’t disappearing any time
soon
Background
• The Esperance fires in November 2015 destroyed overhead power
supply to a number of properties
• Temporary diesel generating sets were installed
• Horizon Power had been working with Western Power on the SPS
Pilot in Ravensthorpe
• Thus the Esperance situation warranted rapid a SPS solution
Customer Selection & Engagement
• Key principle: no customer would be forced to accept an SPS
• A list of customers with damaged overhead connection were
identified and grouped into spurs
• The estimated cost of the spur replacement was compared
with the estimated SPS cost to identify viable customers
• Esperance HP team engaged with the viable customers and
produced a short list of seven sites
Delicate and respectful engagement was needed post-fires
Signed up four customers with five properties, two withdrew
Legal
• Horizon Power’s statutory powers under the Electricity
Corporations Act 2005 (WA) for SPSs outside the South West
Interconnected System (SWIS) are reasonably clear
• However other aspects required substantial legal advice, including
creation of a Customer Agreement:
Based on the Standard Form Customer Contract
Customer grants HP the right to go onto premises to install, own, operate and
maintain the SPS
Customer pays the same tariff as before, in line with the Uniform Tariff Policy
HP will allow for the system to be optimised over the first 12 months
• Early involvement with legal team was important and valuable
Project Delivery
• GHD for project management and owner’s engineer
• Site visits with HP and vendor in January 2016
• Limited customer load data: non-interval meters, annual reads
– Approach was to start with a “vanilla” system and then augment
– Some key issues were dealt with, e.g. single/split/3 phase
– Layout for each customer was adjusted to suit the available land
– Systems were to be optimised over the first 12 months
– Augmentation will be about reducing diesel run hours
• Systems energised over March, April and May 2016
• Battery augmentation completed in October 2016
Technical
Each SPS system comprises:
• Solar panels: ground mounted, between 8 to 12 kW
• Batteries: lithium ion; 1.2 kWh ea, between 16 to 33 off
• Diesel generating set: 15-20 kVA
• Container 2.5 x 3.2 x 2.2 m including:
– AC switchboard
– Battery inverter(s); 6 kW ea (1, 2 or 3 off)
– Battery racking and batteries
– Air conditioning for battery compartment
• Single and 3 phase have been deployed
Operations and Maintenance
• HP is using the vendor to perform O&M of SPS
• Escalation process
– customer calls fault line, details get routed to O&M contractor
– O&M contractor needs to respond within
certain timing
– off/on times captured
• SCADA interface a work in progress:
– Daily data report
– Web portal
– Remotely change system parameters
1st SPS: energised 9 March 2016
2nd SPS: energised 18 April 2016
3rd SPS: energised 18 May 2016
4th SPS: energised 18 May 2016
5th SPS: energised 19 May 2016
Typical site, pre-augmentation
Genset kWBattery SOC
PV kW
Battery temp.
Central inverter kW
Customer kW
Typical site, post-augmentation
Augmentation impact on generator run time
0.0
50.0
100.0
150.0
200.0
250.0
300.0
350.0
400.0
0.0
1.0
2.0
3.0
4.0
5.0
6.0
1/06/2016 1/07/2016 1/08/2016 1/09/2016 1/10/2016 1/11/2016 1/12/2016 1/01/2017 1/02/2017
Cu
mu
lati
ve g
en
era
tor
run
tim
e (h
ou
rs)
Ge
ne
rato
r ru
n t
ime
(ho
urs
/day
)
Run time per day Cumulative run time
Battery augmentation
completedWeekly
generator run introduced
Customer away (very low
load)
How were the SPSs received?
Lessons
Customer engagement by Esperance Horizon Power staff
Getting the Customer Agreement and associated legal issues
out the way up front
Involving Horizon Power’s Inspectorate up front
Not too many variables in the experiment
Much more than a technology trial – touches on every aspect
of the business
Knowledge gained from actual implementation vs desktop
analysis
Lessons (continued)
Temporary diesel genset experience
Numerous gaps in regulations and standards
Economics of SPS still need to improve (including O&M)
Not quite a domestic install, not a HV switchyard either
Customer daily usage doesn’t tell the whole story
Watch out for losses (but don’t overthink them)
The integrated product is not off the shelf
Scope creep: customer preferences
Think about O&M at the outset
Optimisation potential
• Demand side management to optimise planting
Not for this exercise
• Settings optimisation
When to switch on/off gensets
Different settings for different times
-120
-80
-40
0
40
80
120
-8000
-6000
-4000
-2000
0
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
0:00
:00
0:18
:00
0:36
:00
0:54
:00
1:12
:00
1:30
:00
1:48
:00
2:06
:00
2:24
:00
2:42
:00
3:00
:00
3:18
:00
3:36
:00
3:54
:00
4:12
:00
4:30
:00
4:48
:00
5:06
:00
5:24
:00
5:42
:00
6:00
:00
6:18
:00
6:36
:00
6:54
:00
7:12
:00
7:30
:00
7:48
:00
8:06
:00
8:24
:00
8:42
:00
9:00
:00
9:18
:00
9:36
:00
9:54
:00
10:1
2:0
0
10:3
0:0
010
:48
:00
11:0
6:0
011
:24
:00
11:4
2:0
012
:00
:00
12:1
8:0
012
:36
:00
12:5
4:0
013
:12
:00
13:3
0:0
013
:48
:00
14:0
6:0
014
:24
:00
14:4
2:0
0
15:0
0:0
0
15:1
8:0
0
15:3
6:0
0
15:5
4:0
0
16:1
2:0
0
16:3
0:0
0
16:4
8:0
0
17:0
6:0
0
17:2
4:0
0
17:4
2:0
0
18:0
0:0
0
18:1
8:0
0
18:3
6:0
0
18:5
4:0
0
19:1
2:0
0
19:3
0:0
0
19:4
8:0
0
20:0
6:0
0
20:2
4:0
0
20:4
2:0
0
21:0
0:0
0
21:1
8:0
0
21:3
6:0
0
21:5
4:0
0
22:1
2:0
0
22:3
0:0
0
22:4
8:0
023
:06
:00
23:2
4:0
023
:42
:00
Battery Active Power (W) Customer Active Power (W) Genset Active Power (W) PV Active Power (W) Battery Charge State (%) Battery Temperature (°C)
