Ballarat Substation Upgrade

SP AusNet, Victoria's largest electricity and gas energy supplier, required the rebuild of its Ballarat substation on time and without disruption to its normal business operations.

A complex 'brownfield' refurbishment, the project was the second major rebuild Beca had undertaken for SP AusNet. The scheme called for the services of fifteen engineers, based in Beca offices across Australia and New Zealand, and included all procurement relating to detailed design, and the provision of support services throughout the project.

In developing the design for such a large-scale enterprise, the project team drew on their breadth of international experience, as well as building on knowledge gained from previous projects completed for SP AusNet in particular.

With power outages planned far in advance, it was essential for the team to complete specific stages of the project to tight timelines. This was achieved, without interruption to the end-user, and the project team were able to fine-tune a number of processes based on lessons learned during the project.

Subsequently, Beca has helped SP AusNet develop standard drawing sets for the different substation components. This has allowed Beca to save time in the detailed design phase and has enabled SP AusNet to maintain their substations with greater ease.

Detailed design for the Ballarat substation was completed by early 2006.