Omnia Projects were engaged to undertake Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) for the Eccles 400kV cable connection project for Zenobe Energy Limited.
This project facilitates the connection of a 400MW Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) into the existing Eccles 400kV GIS substation, owned and operated by Scottish Power Energy Networks. As part of the optioneering stage, multiple cable route options were assessed to determine a technically and economically feasible solution for development. The selected 400kV cable route is highlighted in yellow in the image below, with the red segment being represented by the HDD (horizontal directional drill) element.
FEED's Deliverables
The scope of Omnia Projects’ HV cable design team included:
- Identification of feasible cable routes following cable route walks and assessing utility records and GPR survey information.
- Coordination with the HDD contractor to identify the maximum cable installation depth.
- Ampacity ratings calculations for worst-case seasonal and installation conditions for various scenarios, including the HDD maximum installation depth.
- Multiple HV cable crossings assessments, i.e. 11kV and 33kV cable circuits crossing utilising CYMCAP cable crossing module.
- Other existing services crossings assessments that can thermally impact the 400kV cable circuit rating, i.e. gas main pipe by modelling this as a heat source in CYMCAP.
- Cable sizing and specification following the thermal assessment of all scenarios.
- Short-duration overload inertia scenario required to prove the cable can sustain an increased load for a limited time.
- Production of associated 400kV cable route layout, cable crossings & typical sections.