Criteria for the implementation and life cycle management of a major 330 kV protection system upgrade

The Snowy Mountains Scheme features seven hydro-electric power stations, a pumping station and seventeen large dams. A 225 km network of aqueducts and tunnels collect and divert the mountain waters of the Australian Alps, while the power output from the generating stations is supplied to a 330 kV interconnected system in south-eastern Australia. The author documents the development of portion of a six year A$6.1 million project to provide duplicated and segregated 300 kV protection schemes and includes a comparison between main transformer and transmission line protections as previously installed and now in existence. The major difficulty encountered in the initial review and in subsequent investigations was to reach an agreeable `cut-off´ point to maintain the scope of work within acceptable practical and financial constraints