Network Extentions to Remote Areas
Over the next decade climate change policies are likely to have a significant impact upon the Australian Energy Markets, promoting a shift in investment away from high carbon emission generating plant to renewable energy sources.
Some types of renewable energy resources such as geothermal activity are located at unique sites, some very remote from the existing shared transmission network. Unlike wind generation, where a proponent may opt for a slightly less favourable wind location in order to reduce connection costs and potentially transmission congestion, geothermal power stations are constrained to locate where suitable “hot rocks” or “hot sedimentary aquifers” exist.
Given the low fuel cost of geothermal generation and their ability to operate on baseload duty, it offers an attractive solution to long term CO2-e emission reduction. However, given the distance of prospective geothermal sites from the existing shared grid, and size of some resources, it is likely that long and potentially high capacity transmission infrastructure will be required to connect this generation. Similarly, large scale solar generation requires significant land surface area and may locate remotely from the grid to minimise land costs.
Whether it be geothermal, solar, wind or other remote high capacity renewable fuel source, the efficient development of network extensions to these areas is important. A broad range of planning considerations and technical options need to be addressed in order to optimise the development of generation and transmission infrastructure. For example, where the potential capacity of a remote generation development is difficult to estimate, strategic staging of augmentations and considerations regarding the type of transmission technology to use become paramount.
As part of AEMO’s information provision role, we have developed a list of transmission considerations, and initial estimates of costs for long distance line extensions of various capacities and technology. It is intended that this will complement information available to proponents planning large scale energy projects located remotely from the shared transmission network. It should also assist developers to select the location of potential power stations that are reliant on remote fuel sources. It should be noted that this document was prepared for general information purposes only and users should read the disclaimer before using the document.
This work has been performed in two parts:
- Part 1: This part provides a list of planning considerations for the connection of generation over long distances.
- Part 2: The second part of this work involves a case study which looks at various options for connecting large scale baseload generation at Innamincka in northern South Australia to the existing shared transmission grid.
For more information please contact Adam Peard (07) 3347 3042
Network Extensions to Remote Areas : Part 1 Planning Considerations |
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Network Extensions to Remote Areas : Part 2 – Innamincka Case Study |
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