Queensland-New South Wales Interconnector upgrade, Australia

One of the leading power utilities in Australia, Transgrid is upgrading its 300 kV Queensland - New South Wales Interconnector (QNI) link to facilitate low-cost power exchange and boost renewables integration. Hitachi Energy's open rack capacitor banks are being installed as a part of this upgrade project to ensure stable voltage profile and good power quality across the link.

TransGrid, the leading Australian power utility, is upgrading the Queensland – New South Wales Interconnector (QNI), a 330 kilovolt (kV) transmission link, spanning 300 kilometers long. The renovation project will boost the inter-state power transfer capacity Queensland and New South Wales (NSW). The outcome would be not only the sharing of low-cost power generation between the two states and reduced electricity bills for customers, but also increased capacity of the network to integrate renewable energy.

For long transmission links like QNI, power quality becomes a major concern. Maintaining a stable voltage profile across the line can be challenging and failing to do so will result to failure of electrical equipment. Recognizing the impact of an unreliable power supply, capacitor banks have been installed across the transmission line to help maintain a uniform voltage profile across the network.

Hitachi Energy played a vital role in improving the power quality of QNI by adding a total of nine open rack capacitor banks at the key Tamworth, Armidale and Dumaresq substations. The capacitor banks which are robust in design and simple to install, offer enhanced power quality and reliability of network.

After the renovation, the QNI link will deliver safe, reliable and lower-cost energy shared between two states. The project ensures improved power flow, providing customers a cost-effective and stable supply of electricity, especially during peak demand periods. Additionally, it will further enhance the development of renewable generation in new energy zones. Hitachi Energy’s capacitor banks, installed at strategic locations in the network, will boost reliability of the link even further, strengthening voltage stability across the transmission line.

Hitachi Energy’s open rack capacitor banks are well-proven and highly reliable power quality solutions for utilities as well as bulk power consuming industries. Available over a wide range of configurations, these solutions can be designed for any network voltage from 1 to 800 kV and even above. With an optimized footprint, these capacitor banks can be installed indoors or outdoors to meet the project requirements and withstand tough climatic conditions with ease