Introduction: Under Black Start conditions, substations are dependent upon their back-up batteries to power the equipment necessary to enable a safe restart of the system. The increased quiescent load on these batteries from modern electronic equipment means that these batteries will run-down during an extended blackout situation. Conventional options for extending this period are larger batteries or diesel generators, but they will incur additional capital and an ongoing revenue cost.

The initial project looked at the feasibility of arranging the network to enable restoration of substation essential supplies from Black Start Generation prior to the restoration of customers’ loads. The initial project identified a number of unknowns, some of which were to be covered by a short second phase.

Objectives: System model studies of Western Power Distribution’ primary assets to determine the feasibility of using remote network interconnection to provide substation power requirements in the event of a Black Start Scenario.