Power Utility: Beaumont Community Association
Customer
Horizon Power : Beaumont Community Association – Community Hall
Project Date: 2019
Location: Beaumont, 120 kilometres east of Esperance, Western Australia
Solution
– Community hall lighting and equipment
– Outdoor lighting, including tennis courts
– District fire station
Specifications: R-Series SAPS
10.8 kW of solar panels
25.2 kWh of battery storage
15 kVA of back-up diesel generation
Situation
The Beaumont Community Association (BCA) was formed more than 30 years ago by 23 farming families in the Beaumont district, and the Beaumont Community Hall has been pivotal in keeping the community connected.
At the end of a distribution spur line, the community hall experienced frequent power outages, causing significant impact to use. The power interruptions prevented fridges and freezers being left running and outdoor lighting, including lights to the tennis courts was unreliable, limiting the use of the facilities in the evenings.
Being a remote community surrounded by thousands of hectares of farmland and some distance from major emergency services, the unreliability of power to the district fire station located beside the community hall was a critical risk.
Design Considerations
- Providing safe reliable power that met or exceeded the utility’s obligations under its charter.
- Analysing the load profile, demands and usage requirements, including concentrated demand in conjunction with community hall usage.
- Mitigating the impact of a power outage with a battery size capable of 4 – 5 hours of back-up power, enabling the utility to rectify issues.
Locality Considerations:
- Ease of access for deployment and servicing.
- Ability to supply reliable power to the community hall as well as the adjacent district fire station.
Customer Benefits
The deployment of the SAPS in late 2019 has resulted in a range of benefits to the Beaumont community:
- Zero outages since SAPS installation.
- Increased use of the community hall and its facilities, fostering community connection and contributing to overall health and wellbeing.
- Implementation of regular weekly activities including a mother’s group and a men’s shed.
- Reliable lighting for night events and sporting facilities, including tennis courts.
- Continuous running of fridges and freezers for safe storage of perishables.
- Community safety through the delivery of reliable power to the district fire station to keep vehicle batteries constantly charged.
“You can’t underestimate how important social connection is on the mental health and wellbeing of a community.
Since the SAPS was installed we have set up a men’s group which is helping to get the men off their farms and providing a place for them to talk among themselves.” – Lyndon Mickel, President Beaumont Community Association,