Horizon Power, Western Australia’s regional and remote power provider, services customers across 2.3 million square kilometres, including some of the most isolated communities in the world. The dispersed population and generally high cost to supply has required the utility to think differently about how it delivers power within a variety of conditions and to a range of customers, many of whom are isolated.

Aging infrastructure identified on distribution spur lines supplying customers east of Esperance presented an opportunity for the utility to prove the commercial viability of Stand-Alone Power System (SAPS) as a utility grade alternative power solution to poles and wires.

Providing safe reliable power that met or exceeded the utility’s obligations under its charter.

• Analysing the load profile, demands and usage requirements of each customer, many of whom were farmers with intense energy usage equipment.
• Mitigating the impact of a power outage on end-of-grid customers by sizing the battery to be capable of providing 4 – 5 hours of back-up power, allowing the utility time to rectify an issue.
• Environmental impacts including minimising ground disturbance.

Locality considerations, including:

• Ease of access for deployment and servicing.
• Safe distance from agricultural chemicals.

Horizon Power was able to permanently remove 64 kilometres of aging poles and wires, making it the first utility in Australia to achieve this.

Cost to serve

• Operating costs significantly reduce as a result of removing traditional poles and wires.
• This has the flow on effect of lowering associated costs such as network maintenance and upgrades, and number of outages.
• The falling costs of components, including solar panels and batteries, is making SAPS an increasingly viable proposition and a more cost-effective alternative to traditional poles and wires.
  

Maintenance

• Reduction in cost to maintain as a result of no longer needing to undertake routine maintenance or attend to unplanned outages.
• Once a year on-site maintenance to top up the diesel generator and service the system.