Early last year MV Switchgear was awarded a contract for the manufacture, supply, installation and cold commissioning of all the MV switchgear equipment required for a 40MW Photo Voltaic (PV) solar power generation plant being established at a gold mine in Gauteng
The solar plant, covering an area of over 100ha, will generate over 20% of the average electrical energy consumption of the mine.
The fast-track contract awarded to MV Switchgear comprised three parts, namely:
- An extension to an existing 11kV substation switchboard to accommodate the additional load coming in from the solar plant. For this extension MV Switchgear has produced, supplied and installed 18 double-busbar panels of its premier switchgear product AMV12.
- Two containerised collector substations, each containing 12 x 11kV GELPAG solid insulated switchgear (SIS) units. GELPAG’s positive features include high operational efficiency, low maintenance, compactness and built-in immunity to pollution and humidity. It is one of only a few MV switchgear products in the world capable of using solid dielectric insulation without forced cooling for continuous current ratings up to 3150A.
- Ten 17,5kV solar circuit-breakers, each housed in an outdoor kiosk. The circuit-breaker kiosks are installed at various points throughout the solar plant site to feed the solar-generated power from transformers via cables to the collector substations. These panels in turn transfer the collected power to the extended 11kV substation.
Due to the significant advantages of GELPAG solid insulated switchgear, as outlined above, the customer had no hesitation in accepting it as an alternative solution to gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) for the collector substations.
“An additional noteworthy feature of the GELPAG SIS switchgear is that it has the capability of reaching a higher continuous current (i.e. 4000A) and short-circuit current (i.e. 40kA) ratings when compared to alternative products of similar technology on offer in the market,” commented Caroline Baptista, Senior Sales Engineer at MV Switchgear.
“GELPAG SIS switchgear is an ideal product for applications such as this solar farm, where reliable, compact switchgear is required. As the South African partners for this product, MV Switchgear locally supports the equipment throughout its lifespan, which gives the customer peace of mind,” she pointed out.
A separate contract was awarded to MV Switchgear After-Sales to refurbish the existing protection schemes for the 11kV substation’s main switchboard.
Both the substation extension and the collector substations have been supplied with battery tripping units from ACTOM’s Static Power business unit.
