A new community battery energy storage system for Glenorchy is one step closer. Aurora Energy’s “request for information” (RFI) on the proposal through the government’s electronic tendering service (Gets) website closes tomorrow — the goal is to understand market capability and capacity for delivery. At present, Glenorchy’s power supply’s delivered via a single 35km, 11kV feeder, running from the Queenstown zone substation. It has the dubious honour of being Aurora’s 10th worst-performing feeder last year. The documentation on the Gets site says it has no interconnection to any other feeder from Bob’s Cove to Glenorchy, with dense vegetation the primary cause of unplanned outages. While Pioneer Energy’s 400kVA Oxburn run-of-river hydropower station contributes to the local supply, it has no storage capability and requires grid voltage and frequency to operate. When it trips, the Oxburn generator loses its grid reference and drops offline, leaving the township entirely reliant on an 800kVA diesel generator, installed at the head of the lake in 2018. But it can only handle about 35 hours’ operation at full load before it needs refuelling. In the “case for change” Aurora says the present resiliency in Glenorchy is “inadequate”, noting a major weather event, slip or earthquake could sever the township and the feeder simultaneously and the reliability of the feeder is “below acceptable performance standards”. “A feeder ranked 10th worst in the network generates disproportionate customer harm relative to the modest customer numbers it serves,” the documentation says. Aurora says while its RFI isn’t a formal procurement process, they may seek to conduct that process subsequent to the response. — TRACEY ROXBURGH
