Sludge Treatment Facility Substation Automation

Scope

HV Power Systems Design Review, Management and Commissioning for the complete power system which includes 24MW of generation capacity with import and export options. Scope extended to re-design with IEC61850 SCADA.

The Hong Kong Sludge Treatment Facility was conceived to improve on the environmental impact of land fill disposal of all the solid wastes (“sludge”) from all of the Sewerage Treatment Plants in Hong Kong. Utilising high temperature incinerators, the sludge is processed and provides electricity generation, with an excess supply that exports energy back to the grid for the first time in Hong Kong. The plant is the largest Sludge Treatment Facility in the world, and the complex HV Systems and various operating scenarios for the generators, switchboards and controls were all commissioned by Voltex Power Engineers as the Project HV Manager.

The complexity of the protection and control systems for the various configurations required an innovative approach, as the hard-wired controls proved inadequate. Through collaboration with Voltex Systems & Integration, a new IEC61850 Power Management System was proposed, and the Voltex Group proved the benefits of a combined Power and Control team in successfully designing and delivering a working system, receiving the approval of the local China Light and Power utility.