Ravensthorpe Bridging Solution
On the 4 May 2009 the Minister for Regional Development requested Western Power and Horizon Power resolve the power quality and reliability issues affecting Ravensthorpe.
Western Power and Horizon Power have jointly developed a two-stage approach to resolving the current power supply issues:
- Stage 1 was the establishment of a temporary power station at Ravensthorpe to supply the town, which was commissioned in December 2009. The diesel power station was supplied by Horizon Power and saw Ravensthorpe being disconnected from the South West Interconnected System (the Grid).
- Stage 2 involves Western Power continuing to develop a permanent, sustainable solution for the town. This includes examining UPS systems and protection upgrades along with the development of a proactive Community and Stakeholder Engagement Plan. Until Stage 2 is finalised, Western Power has implemented a bridging solution.
Facts at a glance
- Stage 1 of the solution concluded on the 2nd of February 2011. During this stage, energy consumption was 2.5 times that of the estimated. The single biggest cost of this initiative was fuel and the amount budgeted for wasn’t suffice to run the generators through to December 2011.
- No other funding was provided enabling Western Power to continue running the generators through December 2011.
- Ravensthorpe is currently connected to the diesel generators for the winter peak months between June and August 2011.
- After the peak months have ceased, Ravensthorpe will be re-connected to the SWIS and the generators will remain on stand by incase of an outage.
- Western Power will continue to develop a permanent, more sustainable solution for Ravensthorpe along with implementing a Community and Stakeholder Engagement Plan.
Project outline
February 2nd 2011 saw the completion of Stage 1, and the disconnection of Ravensthorpe from the diesel generators. The town was reconnected to the SWIS via the Gnowangerup feeder and will be able to utilise the generators during outages of over 30 minutes, improving power reliability and capacity to the area. The peak months of June, July and August will see Ravensthorpe supplied entirely from the generators in order to cope with increased demand.
Stage 2 of the project will continue to be developed which endeavours to find a longer term, sustainable solution to the reliability issues Ravensthorpe experiences. Western Power will work closely with the Shire and community to address ahead of implementing a permanent Stage 2 solution.
Community engagement
Effective community involvement requires an open dialogue between Western Power and interested members of the community as an integral part of project planning and decision-making.
To date, Western Power has worked with the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Community and local business owners in order to understand the reliability and quality issues further and the impact these issues have on the wider community groups of Ravensthorpe. This communication will continue through the bridging solution.
Western Power has also asked the community to participate in a Data Collection initiative where Ravensthorpe’s power behaviors can be monitored and recorded. This information has been collated and sent to Western Power, enabling them to cross check with their recordings and sight inconsistencies and differences between the network recordings and townships experiences. All results will be fed back to the community at the next forum. Current results indicate power quality improvements since January 2011.
In order to encourage a high level of communication between Western Power and the community, a series of community forums are to be scheduled. Sessions have been held in March and May with the next scheduled for August. The purpose of the community forum is to ensure we are accessible and available to the wider community. In this way we can communicate progress and updates directly. The sessions are advertised in local papers and by the Shire of Ravensthorpe.
Contact us
Given that there is a large project team responsible for this project (including staff from approvals and development, planning, technical, environmental, land management and community engagement) all phone enquiries are being directed to 13 10 87. Your specific question will be then sent to the most appropriate team member to respond to.
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