PROJECT TITLE:
Plashett Dam Pumping Station Control System
CLIENT:
Tenix Alliance for Macquarie Generation
Background:
Construction of the new Plashett Dam Pumping Station was successfully completed in 2009. The pumping station transfers up to 800ML/day of water from the Hunter River directly to the Plashett Dam which supplies water to Macquarie Generation’s Bayswater and Liddell power stations. The pumping station is divided into two independent 400ML/day pumping modules. Each pumping module contains 4 pump sets consisting of two submersible pumps operating in series and each module is connected to a single pipeline which runs to Plashett Dam over a distance of 2,150m. The pipelines are interconnected near the pumping station so that either of the pumping modules can feed into either one of the pipelines.
Provecta was engaged by Tenix Alliance (Tenix) under subcontract to undertake the design, supply and commissioning of the instrumentation and control system for the Plashett Dam Pumping Station project. Provecta was responsible for the design, supply and commissioning of the Schneider Premium PLC / CitectSCADA systems; communications interfaces to new plant and field devices including soft-starters, circuit breaker controllers, and protection relays, and a communications interface to the existing Bayswater power station control systems.
The control system implemented by Provecta provides the control and protection functions required for the safe and reliable operation of the pumping station. In addition, the control system provides a single push-button start/stop facility which allows for the fully automatic operation of the pumping station with only alarm supervision being required. The control system automatically operates the pump sets in accordance with a daily water entitlement set-point while ensuring that the pumping station does not exceed the limit at which the client can pump water from the river.
