Power Supply Olympic Dam Expansion Project
The Olympic Dam copper uranium mine and processing plant expansion was completed in 1998, resulting in an increase in load at the remote Roxby Downs site from 40 MW to 120 MW. Augmentation works to cater for this increase included a 265 km long 275 kV transmission line, 275/132/11kV substations, and 11 kV distribution. Contract packages consisted of design and construction of the 275 kV and 132 kV transmission lines; design and supply of the 275/132/11kV substations; and engineering, procurement and construction management of the 11 kV distribution. For the power supply aspects of the project, Sinclair Knight Merz undertook:
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power system design and analysis, including load flow, fault level, harmonics and filtering, transient analysis for mill starting and winder operation, load shedding and load loss over-voltage analysis, 275 kV line considerations (SPAR, dead time, shunt reactors, parallel operation with 132 kV line), insulation coordination
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The benefits achieved for the Client included completion of the power supply on time and on budget, and management of risk associated with technically difficult aspects of providing power to a remote facility.