Local and specialist Western Power crews will be on standby next week ahead of essential planned maintenance on Kalgoorlie-Boulder’s backup generator.
Several years ago, Western Power entered into a Network Control Service contract with Synergy for alternative generation via two gas turbine generators located at the West Kalgoorlie Terminal.
The generation can be used as a backup power supply for unplanned outages on Western Power’s 220kV network.
Synergy is undertaking essential work on the generators between 14 and 21 August including preventative and corrective maintenance to improve its reliability for the community and industry.
Western Power Executive Manager of Asset Management, Gair Landsborough, said while these essential maintenance works are underway on the generators and they are out of use, the risk remains of a fault occurring on the network which could result in an outage.
“While we don’t anticipate any issues on the network, we’re preparing to ensure we can respond effectively in the event there is one, as the potential outage length and impacts are larger without the back-up generators.
“For this reason, it’s important for people to be prepared should any potential outage likely have a significant impact on them – such as making sure medical equipment, computers and phone batteries are charged,” Mr Landsborough said.
“In the event of any unforeseen issues or a fault on the main feeder line causing an outage, local crews in the Kalgoorlie-Boulder area will respond to minimise the impact on the community. Specialist crews can also be deployed if necessary,” he said.
Specialist crews are deployed in the event highly complex repairs and assessments are required including on transmission lines and protection systems, as well as transformers.
“During unplanned outages, we communicate with impacted customers and stakeholders via SMS, and, depending on the length of the outage, customers impacted and estimated restoration times, can use other options including radio.
In May, Western Power completed essential network renewal and upgrade work in the area to improve network resilience, with no impact to customers.
“As part of our network renewal and maintenance program, we continually identify and replace infrastructure and assets as they age or that have been identified as needing replacing.”
Our priority is to safely meet the energy needs of our customers, and this work ensures the network is as resilient as possible.