A revolution for Ergon Energy

Ergon Energy has taken delivery of the first of three unique mobile substations that will revolutionise the way it responds to natural disasters in regional Queensland.

Mines and Energy Minister Geoff Wilson today inspected Nomad 1 which was designed and built in Queensland. The other two Nomads will be rolled out in the coming months.

Mr Wilson said the $2.5 million mobile substation would be used to restore power more quickly in the event of equipment failures or in emergencies such as cyclones and severe storms.

“Nomad 1 is undergoing final testing in Brisbane this month before it’s deployed to regional Queensland. Ergon Energy will use this opportunity to train staff in the region to operate it,” Mr Wilson said.

The Minister said the Nomads would be based in each of Ergon Energy’s three regions: South West Queensland and Wide Bay-Burnett, Central Queensland, and North and Far North Queensland.

“Ergon Energy will be able to deliver all three units to a community in crisis and if a sufficiently powerful generator is available, those units could provide electricity even if the power supply to the town is cut,” Mr Wilson said.

The Minister said the benefits of mobile substations were apparent in Collinsville recently when both transformers at the bulk supply substation were forced out of action and ENERGEX swung into action.

“Although the ENERGEX mobile substation used in Collinsville has some design differences from the Nomad, it follows the same principle of being able to take the place of a regular substation,” he said.

Mr Wilson said the mobile units would also be used on a day-to-day basis to maintain power to communities while maintenance is carried out on substations.

“Until now, carrying out maintenance on substations with a single transformer has been problematic because it required the power supply to customers to be interrupted, sometimes for hours,” he said.

“The Nomad can park alongside the existing substation and provide a continuous power supply while vital maintenance work is carried out.

“They can deliver 10 megawatts of power, which is sufficient for upwards of 2000 residential customers,” he said.

Mr Wilson said the Queensland-designed and built mobile substations had several unique features that had attracted interest from power utilities around the world.

“While many power utilities have mobile substations, none has units that are as versatile as the Nomads,” he said.

Nomads are fully self-contained, have stand-alone protection systems, a small on-board generator, incoming and outgoing high voltage circuit-breakers and connect wirelessly to the new Ergon Energy control centre.

“They’ll become a regular sight around Queensland as they move from one substation to another,” Mr Wilson said.

“They are also the first in the world capable of handling a range of voltages, which is a major breakthrough because regional Queensland substations have four different transformer configurations.”

Mr Wilson said the concept had been developed from the ground up in Queensland by Areva T&D and Ergon Energy, with support from the Department of State Development.

“It marks a new era for the company in its ability to maintain the power supply across its vast network.

“Nomad 1 is the culmination of a lot of hard work by Ergon Energy staff. I take my hat off to them for their ingenuity and expertise,” Mr Wilson said.

“The Nomads will become a regular sight as they move from one substation to another around Queensland,” Mr Wilson said.

The Minister said that almost $800 million would be spent by Ergon Energy on their capital expenditure this financial year.

“And $10 million has been set aside for cyclone-prone communities through Ergon Energy’s CARE program.

“Through this program, 600 Ergon Energy staff can be moved around the state to help deal with whatever nature throws at the electricity network.

“This is timely given dire weather bureau predictions of more severe storms on the horizon.

“When the next one strikes, we should spare a thought for the Ergon Energy workers who will be out in that bad weather restoring damaged powerlines, instead of relaxing at home with their families.

“It’s not a 9 to 5 job. It can be hazardous and for that we owe them our thanks,” Mr Wilson said.

Media Inquiries: Ellen McIntyre 3225 1819