Last updated: 12 Dec 2023
29 March 2023 update
The digital substation team are close to the end of the current stage of the project, Inception 2. This stage of the project aims to ensure that equipment and suppliers are selected and that interoperability testing is complete to minimise risk in later stages. In this stage, concept work has been completed around the design of the primary plant interface and the control room.
Here’s a sneak preview -- the team is currently aiming for a control/relay room which is portable and can be built and tested off-site with reduced on-site integration testing. Our consultant AECOM has prepared 3D layouts and views to help us visualise options and below you can see some examples. We plan to have two portable rooms – a facilities room with storage and amenities and a control room.
There’s still a lot to do – after the Inception stage we enter the Development stage which is the building of standards and templates, the full “toolkit” to allow a digital substation to be deployed at green-field sites. This will take around a year and then we expect to be ready to build our first digital substation.
4 October 2022 update
We will soon complete the construction of a digital substation laboratory in our Wellington office. The laboratory is part of our Digital Substation Project, which is introducing a new approach to delivering protection and control systems in our substations.
Benefits of this project include cost reductions, a simplified design, and quicker deployment. It is also expected to provide remote access to substation equipment, allowing additional data and off-site diagnostics.
The laboratory will play a huge role in enabling hardware and software testing, as well as validation of existing and new technologies involved in the project. The lab will also serve as a training facility for designers, technicians, and Transpower staff who oversee protection & automation and our real-time systems.