Frances Bay Zone Substation

The Frances Bay Zone Substation was constructed to meet increasing electricity demand in Darwin’s CBD and to increase security of power supply to the area – now and into the future.

GHD provided the specialist skills and knowledge needed for the multi-disciplinary engineering and architectural design, project management and contract administration of construction of the project.

Frances Bay Zone Substation is the first major urban substation to be built by the Power and Water Corporation in the Northern Territory since 1987 and it is the first totally indoor zone substation to be constructed in the state. The building was specifically designed to conform to site space restrictions and incorporates aesthetic and environmental considerations. 

The major components of the AUD$20 million project were: 

• Extending the existing cable tunnels from the CBD to the new zone substation
• Architectural and engineering design and construction of the building to house all switchgear, control equipment and the power transformers
• Procurement and installation of all high-voltage electrical equipment
• Re-termination of existing 66kV cable circuits into the new substation from City Zone Substation that originally connected the Stokes Hill power station to the network
• Ongoing installation of new 11kV cables to connect the Darwin CBD to the new substation

A number of factors contributed to the complexity of the project. These included the inner city location, relatively poor access, high volumes of traffic in the area, works in a brownfield location, reuse of decommissioned electrical plant and the diverse range of stakeholders who needed to be consulted and informed.

The new substation was completed and commissioned in mid-2008 and incorporates leading edge equipment, technology and design. It is operated remotely and has been designed for simplicity of operation and maintenance. In addition, it has been designed for post-disaster functionality and has a lifespan of 50-plus years.

As a measure of the project’s success, the HV primary and secondary systems designed for the Frances Bay Zone Substation are now used as a basis for all Power and Water Corporation substations in the Northern Territory.

The Frances Bay Zone Substation project received a Highly Commended award at the Engineers Australia, Northern Territory Division Engineering Excellence Awards in 2008.