Antinuclear

The Australian Energy Market Operator issued a warning in May that any developments – without major system upgrades – would face significant curtailment issues. The options to get around this were investing in machinery known as synchronous condensers, or await a network upgrade, which could take years,

Kiamal, as the largest solar project proposed for the area, was expected to be particularly badly hit, and after going back to the drawing board its developers have decided to invest in a large synchronous condenser to advance the project.

Synchronous condensers are decades old technology. They are rotating machines that do not generate power as such, but can provide “system strength” when needed. South Australia’s ElectraNet is installing three such machines to boost its network.

The “syncon” to be installed by Total Eren will provide a fault contribution of greater than 600MVA, which is around three times the size of the peak output for the solar farm. According to Michael Vawser,  Total Eren is doing this because of economies of scale, and because it will make the yet-to-be-finalised connection process smoother.

It will also facilitate the development of many other wind and solar projects in the area, including some that recently won contracts from the Victoria government under its auction for 650MW of wind and solar capacity.

“This is a good news story for north west Victoria because it will substantially strengthen the system for all users,” Vawser told RenewEconomy. Having syncons in the system will be a necessary part of the transition to a renewable energy future. We are just leading that charge, which is why we are so excited!”………..
it is probably worth pointing out that battery storage installations may be required for some projects under the “do no harm” requirements of grid connections. i.e. not weaken the grid.

Synchronous condensers are considered different because they can strengthen the grid, and allow the building of a wind or solar farm in regions that would otherwise struggle to cope.

AEMO warned last year that Victoria’s big renewable energy plans face major network hurdles – and foreshadowed curtailment rates of up to 50 per cent could be experienced if the network was not upgraded.

It pointed, in particular, to the 220kV line that links Ballarat, Horsham, Red Cliffs (a key connection spot between Victoria and NSW), Kerang and Bendigo, and this was the focus of its May update, where it noted that two existing wind farms, Ararat and Waubra – would soon be joined by the 80MW Crowlands, the 204MW Bulgana and the 226MW Murray Warra wind projects.

“With these five wind farms connected, the (Ballarat to Horsham) line will, at times, be loaded beyond its thermal capacity,” AEMO said. “Associated network constraints may result in limitations on the generating capacity of these wind farms.”

It also made a similar warning to proposed solar farms in the area – the 110MW Wemen, the 100MW Bannerton, the 90MW Karadoc, and the 81MW Yatpool solar projects. Bannerton has already joined the grid.

AEMO’s Integrated System Plan puts the issue in north west Victoria as one of its major priorities, seeking to address the issue  in its Group 1 project proposals it says should be implemented “as soon as practicable”.

This also includes a new interconnector from South Australia to Wagga Wagga in NSW, a line that is expected to have a connection through to Mildura that will also help reduce congestion in that part of Victoria. Total Eren expects the Kiamal solar project to be completed by the middle of 2019. https://reneweconomy.com.au/victorias-largest-solar-farm-goes-ahead-after-solving-connection-dilemma-68095/