Australia’s biggest syncon about to start work in Victoria

The biggest synchronous condenser in Australia is finished and almost ready to start work, with commissioning on the Ararat project now underway. 

The two large 150-tonne halves of the 250 MVA (mega volt ampere) synchronous condenser, or syn-con, arrived at the Ararat Terminal Station in July.

The device is supported by a battery room to support other systems at the station. 

• “All construction is complete, and we are well progressed on the commissioning process,” said AEO’s local CEO Glen Thomson.

• “There’s no doubt we will need more syncons and more batteries with grid-forming inverter technology for years to come as synchronous generation retires.”

A syncon is a large spinning machine that does not burn fuel and provides essential system services such as “system strength” to support the power grid in the case of a disturbance.

Syncons are being rolled out throughout Australia, and are considered essential for providing the grid services such as inertia and system strength traditionally surprised by synchronous thermal generation, although battery providers insist that grid forming inverter technologies can do the same job.

The market operator is not yet convinced however, and has warned that failure to obtain syncons quickly enough will put system security at risk as coal fired power stations close. Syncons, however, are proving expensive and hard to get.

NSW transmission company Transgrid has secured 10 smaller syncons to boost its system strength, and orders for seven of the same size to the Ararat device have also been put in for the Central West Orana renewable energy zone.

In South Australia, four synchronous condensers had their first full quarter of operations in 2022 and cut the number and cost of market interventions from around $37 million to just $7 million. That state is now regarded as the most secure, with no system strength shortfalls forecast.

The Ararat project is being delivered in tandem by Melbourne-based renewable energy construction company Beon Energy Solutions and transmission provider Australian Energy Operations (AEO), for the Victorian government. 

It is one of 12 projects being delivered under the state government’s 0 million investment in strengthening and modernising Victoria’s electricity grid so as to facilitate the integration of more renewable energy sources.

The syncon itself is Austrian, sourced from technology group Andritz and so large it had to be shipped in three massive boxes.

Currently, the Ararat Terminal Station already connects the 75 wind turbines of the 242 MW Ararat wind farm to the national electricity grid. The Ararat syncon is expected to facilitate the addition of up to 600 MW of additional renewable energy generation sources in Western Victoria.

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