Power Systems has been awarded a contract valued at over R170-million to boost the capacity of an existing substation in the City of Ekurhuleni to cater to the electricity supply requirements of a new business services development nearby.
The project involves the replacement of an adjacent outdoor 44/6.6kV substation with a new expanded 132/11/6.6kV indoor gas-insulated switchgear (GIS) installation to boost the power capacity from the existing 20MVA output up to 150MVA.
The extension is being executed under the self-build principle by a self-funded private investor working in partnership with the City of Ekurhuleni, which retains ownership of the substation and will ultimately assume responsibility for ongoing maintenance and operation, once complete.
“When the extension was first mooted the establishment of a conventional outdoor AIS substation was considered, but this was soon found to be unviable due to severe space limitations within the substation boundary. Consequently an indoor GIS solution was advised, since one of the greatest advantages offered by GIS is its compact footprint,” said Hannes Horn, Power Systems’ Senior Contracts Engineer, who is responsible for the contract.
The contract, awarded in December last year, is an exceptionally fast-track project, as the facility requires their power offtake by June 2024.
“What makes it even more challenging is that the existing substation has to remain live throughout. This complicates the sequencing of the works that we have to perform and compounds the space constraints that we have to work under,” Hannes commented.
The contract comprises the supply of an eight bay, double-busbar 132kV GIS system sourced from Power Systems’ established Chinese supplier, which is the third similar order the business unit has received for HV GIS over the past 18 months.
“We will also install four new power transformers, which are being manufactured by ACTOM Power Transformers. Two of these will couple to the old distribution switchboard to rejuvenate supply capacity to the surrounding municipal reticulation, while the other two are dedicated to power the new facility,” Hannes pointed out.
All the existing MV substation infrastructure will be left intact and the new GIS expansion will be fed from a new dual 132kV infeed.
Other ACTOM business units Power Systems will utilise on the project are Static Power for the DC system comprising batteries and battery chargers and ACTOM Electrical Products for cables and cabling accessories.
“The DC system has been upgraded to withstand the envisaged impact of daily load-shedding that has become the norm in South Africa. The backup power standby capacity has resultantly been augmented with an additional 50% over what would have normally been specified,” Hannes remarked.
