{"id":102469,"date":"2015-04-10T23:35:23","date_gmt":"2015-04-10T13:35:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=102469"},"modified":"2020-11-16T10:22:29","modified_gmt":"2020-11-16T00:22:29","slug":"sub-station-past-its-use-by-date","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2015\/04\/10\/sub-station-past-its-use-by-date\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Past Its Use-By Date’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Power comes into the Doonkuna Street zone sub-station at 66,000 volts<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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A distribution sub-station in Moore Street, Kingaroy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

April 10, 2015<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kingaroy residents, especially those on the northern and western sides of town, may be experiencing more blackouts than they should be.<\/p>\n

southburnett.com.au<\/strong> has been told by electrical industry sources that aged infrastructure at Ergon Energy’s Doonkuna Street zone sub-station, which distributes power to Kingaroy, could be the reason for some of the recent power outages in the town.<\/p>\n

Two 66,000 volt lines come into the Doonkuna Street sub-station from Tarong Power Station.<\/p>\n

The electricity is then routed through two transformers to knock it down to 11,000 volts before it is distributed out on six feeders: to Wooroolin, Coolabunia, Kumbia and three into Kingaroy (North, East and West).<\/p>\n

southburnett.com.au was told heavy duty switches at Doonkuna Street date back to the 1960s.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, in recent years they have been mated with new high-speed electronic controls.<\/p>\n

Insiders believe this has led to “super sensitivity” at the sub-station, causing switches designed to protect equipment to trip unnecessarily, particularly on the Kingaroy North feeder which supplies power to the northern and western parts of Kingaroy, including Kingaroy Hospital.<\/p>\n

For example, a lighting arrestor on a distribution sub-station in Moore Street, Kingaroy, recently failed in the early hours of March 31 – days after it had been struck by lightning.<\/p>\n

These sub-stations (large boxes on poles) reduce the voltage from 11,000 to 240 volts for distribution to local homes and are dotted throughout Kingaroy.<\/p>\n

The Moore Street failure, we were told, should have led to a blackout in the immediate area only, however eventually about 3000 Ergon Energy customers in Kingaroy and Wooroolin lost power, along the Northern and Wooroolin feeders.<\/p>\n

About 1700 customers were blacked out initially and then a further 1400 customers were affected for a shorter period as part of “switching operations”, according to the official Ergon Energy statement.<\/p>\n

The failure in Moore Street somehow caused a trip down the line in the Doonkuna Street sub-station, something which should not have happened.<\/p>\n

And, we were told, these unknown “trips” at the zone sub-station are far more frequent than they should be.<\/p>\n

Ergon Energy is planning to start construction of a second zone sub-station to service Kingaroy in 2018. This will be located in River Road and will run in conjunction with Doonkuna Street.<\/strong><\/p>\n

However, there are apparently no upgrades scheduled at the existing zone sub-station.<\/p>\n

“They should do some work at Doonkuna Street before the new sub-station is built,” one insider said.<\/p>\n

“Doonkuna Street is past its use-by date and we are wearing the problem as a result.”<\/p>\n

Footnote: Ergon Energy was approached for a comment but southburnett.com.au received no reply before our deadline.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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