What is a Mobile Substation, why is it needed and how does it work? These questions will be answered in this paper, along with other considerations and challenges associated with the development of Transpower's first Mobile Substation. A Mobile Substation is basically a replacement substation on wheels. Transpower identified the need for a 110kV Mobile Substation based primarily on operational and safety considerations, to provide continuity of supply to small single transformer substations during maintenance, and also with a view to provide emergency back-up supply in case of a catastrophic event. Two distribution lines companies in New Zealand had already purchased or constructed 33kV mobile substations and were successfully using them on their networks. Instead of purchasing a completed Mobile Substation, Transpower designed and built one from scratch, drawing on local expertise and experience in the New Zealand power industry. It was a truly collaborative project, bringing together many in the industry. The result was a Mobile Substation that can be deployed at 16 small single transformer substations nationwide, is suited to NZ roads, contains multiple safety features and interlocks, and is completely self-contained. The deployment and connection of the Mobile Substation at these small substations requires advanced planning. An investigation into physical, electrical and environmental considerations is required for each site. Then when the deployment is carried out, there is a detailed plan to ensure correct procedures are followed, in sequence, to guarantee safe livening. The Mobile Substation was commissioned at Murchison in November 2013, and has since been deployed at Tekapo A, Albury and National Park. Already there have been some challenges and valuable lessons learnt. The Mobile Substation is being refined with each deployment, to improve it for subsequent deployments This paper presents the topics outlined above in more detailed, passing on the process, successes and the challenges encountered by Transpower in the course of the conceptual design, development and deployment of the Mobile Substation.
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