Projects | Moreton Bay Rail Link, Brisbane, Australia

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While Static Frequency Converters (SFC) have been utilised in European railways for some time, they are only just beginning to find their way to Australia. Queensland’s Moreton Bay Rail Link (MBR) project is the first such implementation of SFC technology in an Australian metropolitan rail network.

Aurecon, as part of the AECOM Aurecon Joint Venture (AAJV), was the principal electrical designer of the feeder stations for this landmark project.

MBR provides a dedicated public transport corridor for the Moreton Bay region, which is experiencing significant population growth. MBR added 12.6 km of dual track from Petrie, located on Queensland Rail’s existing North Coast Line (NCL) to Kippa-Ring, servicing six new passenger stations and a 10 x 6 car stabling facility at Kippa-Ring.

Queensland Rail’s initial power analysis selected 2 x 33 kV connected SFC feeder stations as the most suitable option to supply MBR, due to a lack of readily-available 110 kV infrastructure and project time/cost constraints.

Construction for the Moreton Bay Rail Link commenced in mid 2012 and was completed in mid 2016.

What are the benefits of SCFs?

Until recently railway feeder stations consisted of transformers which derived a single phase supply from two phases of a utility’s three phase network.

Unfortunately, the supply of a significant single phase load from a three phase grid results in voltage imbalance. This typically restricts the connection voltage to transmission levels (≥110 kV) and can require additional equipment to counter such imbalance effects.

The SFC is a power electronic based alternative to the traditional transformer based feeder station, having a number of distinct advantages including:

The ability to connect at lower distribution voltages (i.e. 33 kV), which are more abundant and less expensive to work with than transmission infrastructure.
The ability to draw from the grid as a three phase balanced load at a nominated power factor (i.e. the ‘perfect’ HV customer)
An increase in traction supply reliability with the potential to operate in synchronism with adjacent feeder stations, turning the railway into a meshed network
Better regulation of traction wiring voltages and capture of train regenerative braking

An additional benefit was the ability for the SFCs to provide support to the adjacent NCL, if synchronised.

Location

Turrbal and Jagera Country
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Client

Moreton Bay Regional Council

Partners

Aecom

Aurecon's Role

Rail and electrical designer

Expertise

Power Transmission & Distribution, Rail & Mass Transit

Complete

2016

Moreton Bay Rail Link (MBR) project is the first such implementation of Static Frequency Converter technology in an Australian metropolitan rail network.

MBR provides a dedicated public transport corridor for the Moreton Bay region, which is experiencing significant population growth.

Moreton Bay Rail graph. A conceptual model of Rothwell Feeder Station. From the right hand side clockwise – prefabricated switchroom with cable trench, single phase filter, 2 x 11/0.433 kV padmounts, SFC single phase transformer and signalling filter, containerised SFC, three phase transformer and heat exchanger.

Moreton Bay Rail graph. A high-level electrical arrangement of MBR and the adjacent NCL, showing MBR synchronised with a transformer at Bald Hills Feeder Station (synchronised track denoted in green).

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Moreton Bay Rail Link (MBR) project is the first such implementation of Static Frequency Converter technology in an Australian metropolitan rail network.

First-principles engineering

The SFC’s unique abilities required a significant amount of first-principles engineering to be undertaken prior to their integration into Queensland Rail’s existing rail network. In addition to the ‘business as usual’ substation design, we contributed to:

Modifying the typical railway interlocking schemes to accommodate the SFC’s synchronising abilities and energisation/earthing sequences
Developing a new protection philosophy for both the three and single phase Gas Insulated Switchgear (GIS), given the SFC’s fault current limiting behaviour and synchronising abilities. New relays and schemes were introduced, with utility protection concepts introduced to the rail environment.
Assisting Queensland Rail with the utility connection assessments at both SFC sites and adjacent 110/25 kV feeder stations
Modelling the MBR corridor and adjacent North Coast line to examine traction return current splits, metalwork voltages during faults and harmonic interaction between feeder stations, traction wiring and rolling stock

The above tasks involved working closely with Queensland Rail, the SFC and prefabricated switch room vendor and Energex.