Deployment of low voltage switched capacitors on single wire earth return networks

Ergon Energy operates over 64,000 kilometres of Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) networks to supply electricity in rural and remote regions of Queensland. Much of the SWER network is approaching designed capacity limits due to unprecedented electrical demand brought by the proliferation of low cost, energy intensive home appliances. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of deploying distributed low voltage switched capacitor banks to provide customer voltage support and release additional network capacity.