PCE Newsroom

As an optimistic sun breaks through this great COVID winter, the eastern seaboard rubs up against the magical 70% 'freedom date', kids (parents moreover) eye off a return to school, and the prospect of international travel dangles deliciously within reach, it feels like we are almost there doesn't it? Time to celebrate right?!  You're damn right it is! And here at PCE, we've started the party early, achieving certification of our Integrated Management System (IMS), and marking our 18th year - our coming of age - with far more than a novelty card and a trip to the pub. For our birthday, we are building a great business, around a great team - and now - supported by great management systems.   

We knew it was coming, but Ausgrid’s revised Network Standard NS220 has finally made the light of day. So, what does this mean for ASP3 overhead line designers in the Ausgrid franchise area? It is time to browse to Ausgrid’s Network Standards page (click here) and download a fresh copy of NS220. Then with a mug of your favourite brew^**, settle in for a hardy engineering review.

Power quality of an electrical system is used to describe the quality and inherent compatibility of power use and distribution in a network. For site connections, power quality is typically assessed in terms of harmonic voltage distortion, harmonic current distortion, voltage fluctuation, voltage unbalance and flicker.

Large Generator Circuit Breakers are like no others.  With ratings to match generators of 1000MW or more, they are massive devices with continuous current ratings in excess of 25,000A at voltages of the order of 24 - 36kV.  Currents of this magnitude would be considered to be fault currents in any other environment.

Advances in technology, as well as operational and economic benefits, are allowing energy production to be less centralised. Modern electricity grids are witnessing a growing number of connections of distributed energy resources, including gas and diesel generators and renewable's like wind and solar. The decentralised energy landscape brings with it several challenges for designers and grid operators.

The Australian energy industry is in a period of significant change with the rise of renewable resource use, decommissioning of power stations and increased desire for independent energy supply. According to the Australian Energy Statistics 2018 (AES) for 2016-17, oil held the largest share of energy consumption at 38%, whilst coal dropped by 1.0% to 32% of total consumption. There was a greater shift in generation towards independent sources which accounted for 12% of Australia’s electricity generation in 2016-17. Solar generation also increased by 18% whilst coal generation decreased by 11% to hold 63% of total generation in the same period (down from 80% at the beginning of the century [1]).

Partial discharge (PD) is an early indication of the degradation of an insulation system for medium and high voltage networks. Insulation breakdown in an electrical power system can lead to high voltage asset damage, unplanned outages and production delays; with the potential for significant financial impact to your business. Luckily, PD can be identified quickly and non-intrusively – whilst equipment is live and in normal operation – allowing targeted HV maintenance and avoiding unnecessary equipment damage and downtime.   

Ausgrid launches a new online application process - replacing the old NECF application - and introduces a CRM tool to increase transparency of the contestable design and construction process. 

It has been over one and a half decades since the publishing of the internationally recognised IEEE 1584 Guide for Performing Arc-Flash Hazard Calculations in 2002. Since this time, the guide has been in the hands of specialist electrical engineers, and built into the software tools they use, having an unprecedented impact on the subject of arc-flash hazard assessment. So, with over 15 years of research and nearly 2000 additional arc-flash tests, what has changed?

Power Control Engineers love staying up to date with all the latest news around network service providers - so you don't have to - and recently attended the Ausgrid ASP3 Seminar in Waitara, New South Wales. Here is a snapshot of the key takeaways: