Prominent Hill Success

Following on from the successful delivery of two ±15Mvar STATCOM units to OZ Minerals as part of overall the Reactive Compensation Plant delivered by RXHK for the new Carrapateena mine, RXHK has been awarded a further ±16Mvar STATCOM for the existing OZ Minerals Prominent Hill mine.

In July 2019 the EPC contractor, TGOOD Australia Pty Ltd, responsible for the 132kV and 11kV switchyard expansion works at Prominent Hill mine, awarded this additional contract to RXHK based on the demonstrated strong performance for the Carrapateena project and the consequent recommendation from OZ Minerals. 

The OZ Minerals owned Prominent Hill mine is located in the South Australia outback. This contract award is the third consecutive successful tender for RXHK in the Australian market in 2018/2019. It is further recognition of our company's technical capability, product quality, service concept and collaborative approach to project management.

The RXHK design and supply contract includes a ±16Mvar 11kV water-cooled STATCOM with 2x short-term overload capability, along with a dual redundant Master Controller.  The Master Controller key functionality is to provide an integrated 132kV voltage control scheme for the reconfigured 132kV supply from Electranet, including integrating of the existing fixed and dynamic compensation systems, and allowance for future expandability.  The low short-circuit level of the location due to the long transmission line poses additional challenges for the large mill motor starts which requires additional short-term overload and control system requirements.  This requires detailed network studies using PSSE and PSCAD as well as control system hardware verification using the RTDS platform.

The ease of installation and ability to integrate into an existing operational brown-field substation were key aspects to the selection of RXHK as the preferred supplier for this project.  The STATCOM equipment supplied has been designed to be installed and operated in accordance with the local Australian environment and conditions, and in compliance with AS, IEC and local regulations and standards.

RXHK’s client TGOOD Australia Pty Ltd and the owner representatives of OZ Minerals subsequently visited the headquarters of RXHK in early September 2019. During their visit they were able to see STATCOMs for a major wind farm project in Victoria, Australia, undergoing the Factory Acceptance Testing. Following the factory visit, the owner representatives sent RXHK a letter confirming their high appraisal of the factory and stating that they had been highly impressed during their visit.

At RXHK we are proud to be supporting Australian industry and helping to delivery efficient, robust and cost effective solutions to challenging environments and grid conditions.