UON Installs 4.46MW Load Bank Facility in Port Lincoln

Jul 26, 2019

UON was contracted by Engie as lead Design & Construct contractor to supply and install a 4.46MW Load Bank Facility at the Synergen Power Station in Port Lincoln, South Australia. The power station provides backup and emergency electricity to the town of Port Lincoln and the surrounding areas connected to the network.

UON supplied:

  • 1x 6.8MVA 33kV/400V ONAN Transformer substation in a 20-foot container
  • 1x 4.8MW/6MVA 415V Load Bank in a 20-foot container
  • 1x Load Bank-substation control room housing control and protection relays in a data rack
  • All mains cabling and materials

UON worked hard to ensure compliance with all the Client’s technical specifications and HSEQ requirements, while also assisting with the integration of equipment communication to their SCADA so that it could be accessed from either the local Power Station SCADA or remotely from the utility’s control room in Adelaide.

Months of management, planning, discussion, preparation, and resolving technical challenges beginning in November 2018 finally culminated in final completion, energizing the new installation with 33kV, and handover all by the end of June 2019.

In regards to the execution and delivery of the project the Engie SA Asset Manager Debasis Baksi, had this feedback: ‘I take this opportunity to congratulate you, the whole team of SA personnel, Kim and the contractors/ counterparties involved in successfully installing, testing and commissioning the load bank at Port Lincoln power station.

The project was conceived, engineered, procured, installed and fully completed within a very tight time schedule allowed…and with no relief provided by the Regulators on any aspect of a strict compliance regime.

It is also great to put on record that the project was completed with no injuries or environmental harm, the team remained instrumental in ensuring adherence to our strict WHS&E practices by all involved.’

The Synergen Operations & Maintenance Manager, Martin Stawski, also had some wonderful feedback for the UON team: ‘UON support and execution was instrumental to our success in achieving Load Bank project completion.’

Overall this was a successful, incident-free UON project with a very quick turnaround that achieved all the UON values and delivered positive results to our client. We appreciate the positive feedback and would like to pass on our own congratulations to those involved. Job well done!