Loading
myRockwellAutomation
Careers
Investors
PartnerNetwork Portal
Contact Us
Popular Resources
Compatibility & Downloads (PCDC) Knowledgebase Literature Library Lifecycle Status Learning+ Training Portal
 
Product Management
Asset Management (RAAMP) Installed Base Evaluation (IBE) My Equipment Self-Service Product Registration Repairs Service Contracts & Tickets Software Activation Software Subscriptions Sustainability Dashboard
 
Product Configuration and Selection
Advisor Bill of Materials CrossWorks Integrated Architecture Builder Product Catalog ProposalWorks Proposal Builder ProposalWorks Standards Builder Safety Automation Builder
 

 

View All Tools →

InformationInformation
This content is not available in your selected language.
Rockwell Automation logo
Products
Hardware
What's New in Hardware Circuit & Load Protection Condition Monitoring Connection Devices Distributed Control Systems Drives Energy Monitoring Human Machine Interface (HMI) Independent Cart Technology Industrial Computers & Monitors Industrial Control Products Input/Output Modules Lighting Control
Motion Control Motor Control Network Security & Infrastructure Power Supplies Programmable Controllers Push Buttons & Signaling Devices Relays & Timers Safety Instrumented Systems Safety Products Sensors & Switches Signal Interface
Software
 
What's New in Software Purchase Software Subscriptions Cloud Software
 
Design
Studio 5000 FactoryTalk Logix Echo Emulate3D Digital Twin Arena Simulation FactoryTalk Design Studio FactoryTalk Vault
 
Analytics & Data
FactoryTalk Analytics FactoryTalk Historian FactoryTalk Analytics LogixAI FactoryTalk DataMosaix DataReady FactoryTalk Energy Manager Thingworx IIoT FactoryTalk Transaction Manager FactoryTalk Analytics VisionAI FactoryTalk Analytics Pavilion8
HMI
FactoryTalk View FactoryTalk Optix Software FactoryTalk Optix Platform
 
MES
Plex MES Plex Connected Worker FactoryTalk ProductionCentre FactoryTalk PharmaSuite Plex MES for Food & Beverage FactoryTalk CPGSuite Plex Quality Management System Plex Enterprise Resource Planning Plex Asset Performance Management Plex Production Monitoring Finite Scheduler FactoryTalk EIHub
 
Performance Monitoring
FactoryTalk Metrics OEE
 
Thin Client Management
ThinManager
Maintenance
Fiix CMMS FactoryTalk Analytics GuardianAI FactoryTalk AssetCentre FactoryTalk Remote Access Emonitor
 
Process
PlantPAx FactoryTalk Batch
 
Industrial Communications
FactoryTalk Linx
 
XR/Augmented Reality
Vuforia
Product Directory Allen-Bradley FactoryTalk
Services
Lifecycle Services
Learn About Our End-to-End Services
 
Production Automation
Overview Coordinated Drive System Solutions Packaged Solutions
Digital Operations
Overview
Industrial Cybersecurity
Cybersecurity Industrial Network Infrastructure Pre-Engineered Network Solutions
Production Optimization
Asset Optimization Services Overview Equipment Repair Equipment Remanufacturing Repair and Inventory Agreements Integrated Service Agreements Remote Support & Monitoring Onsite & Field Services Safety Services Training Services
Loading
Solutions & Industries
Solutions
Advanced Motion & Robotics Asset Management Cybersecurity Data Operations & Analytics Digital Thread Digital Transformation HMI / SCADA Industrial Automation Control Industrial Components New Capacity Networks & Infrastructure
On-Machine Solutions Packaged Solutions Process Solutions Production Automation Production Operations Management Safety Solutions  Scalable Control & Visualization Smart Manufacturing Sustainability Solutions Workforce Enablement
 
Solutions for
OEMs
Industries
Automotive & Tire Cement Chemical Entertainment Fiber & Textiles Food & Beverage Household & Personal Care Hydrogen Infrastructure Life Sciences Marine
Metals Mining Oil & Gas Power Generation Print & Publishing Pulp & Paper Semiconductor Warehouse & Fulfillment Waste Management Water Wastewater
Loading
View Case Studies
Support
Documentation
Technical Documentation Center Product Drawings & Wiring Diagrams Product Certifications Release Notes Technical Specifications
Product Support
Downloads Selection & Configuration Management
Training
Webinars Workforce Development Training Instructor-led Courses Certificate Programs Job Aids Training Workstations Learning+ Training Subscriptions
Contact Us
TechConnect Support Customer Care Software Portal Help General Inquiries
TechConnect Support
Man with headset providing customer service support
TechConnect Support

Get the knowledge and assistance for solving your technical challenges.

Learn More about TechConnect
Compatibility and Downloads (PCDC) Knowledgebase Literature Library Engage Online Community
Sales & Partners
How to Buy
Find a Partner Find a Sales Office
 
Our PartnerNetwork
PartnerNetwork Program Distributor Partners Licensed Developers
Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Partners System Integrator Partners Technology Partners
What is the PartnerNetwork™?
Two people interacting using tablet
What is the PartnerNetwork™?

Our Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork™ program gives our customers access to the best people, products, services and solutions to meet manufacturing goals and bring The Connected Enterprise to life.

Explore Now
myRockwellAutomation
Careers
Investors
PartnerNetwork Portal
Contact Us
Resources
Popular Resources
Compatibility & Downloads (PCDC) Knowledgebase Literature Library Lifecycle Status Learning+ Training Portal
 
Product Management
Asset Management (RAAMP) Installed Base Evaluation (IBE) My Equipment Self-Service Product Registration Repairs Service Contracts & Tickets Software Activation Software Subscriptions Sustainability Dashboard
 
Product Configuration and Selection
Advisor Bill of Materials CrossWorks Integrated Architecture Builder Product Catalog ProposalWorks Proposal Builder ProposalWorks Standards Builder Safety Automation Builder
 

 

View All Tools →

Select country or region
  • Ireland
  • Argentina
  • Australia
  • Belgique | Belgium
  • Brasil
  • Canada
  • Colombia
  • Czech Republic
  • Denmark
  • Deutschland
  • España
  • Finland
  • France
  • Hungary
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Israel
  • Italia
  • México
  • Netherlands
  • New Zealand
  • Norway
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Puerto Rico
  • Romania
  • Russia
  • Schweiz | Suisse
  • Singapore
  • South Africa
  • Sweden
  • Turkey
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • United Kingdom
  • United States
  • Österreich
  • 中国
  • 台灣, 中國
  • 日本
  • 한국
Select language
  • English
  • Deutsch
  • Español
  • Français
  • Italiano
  • Português
  • 日本語
  • 简体中文
  • 繁體中文
  • 한국어
Sign In Create an Account
Why Create an Account?
Create bills of materials, submit repair quotes, register products and more!

Manage your e-communication subscription preferences.

Manage your user profile.
Welcome, {0}
Residing Location
My Account Sign Out
Recent searches
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
  • HistoryHistory
    CloseClose
Suggested searches
  • SearchSearch HistoryHistory
Most relevant results
View all search results Chevron RightChevron Right
Case Study | Power Generation
Recent ActivityRecent Activity
5 minute read

Hydro Tasmania Develops an Advanced Utility Grade Hybrid Energy Solution

Australia's largest generator of clean renewable energy, Hydro Tasmania, develops industry leading hybrid system on Flinders Island

Share This:

LinkedInLinkedIn
XX
FacebookFacebook
PrintPrint
EmailEmail
View of beach with mountains in the background

Challenge

  • To develop a hybrid energy system and reduce Flinders Island’s dependence on diesel for electricity

Solutions

  • Allen‑Bradley® ControlLogix® and CompactLogix™ - Provides seamless integration of control and communication equipment with fast and reliable delivery of data
  • FactoryTalk® ViewPoint - Provides real time information of the status and important parameters, and operators have access to alarms via phone or email
  • FactoryTalk Historian - Provides operators quick access to historian data, enabling them to generate a quick report of parameters for analysis and diagnosis

Results

  • The Hydro Energy Hub system is capable of displacing 60 percent of the annual diesel fuel used to generate electricity with ‘diesel off’ operation for 100 percent renewable penetration

Located off Tasmania’s north-east Coast, Flinders Island is about 60 kilometers from north to south and 37 kilometers from east to west, with a total land area of more than 1,300 square kilometers.

Until recently, Flinders Island was heavily reliant on expensive diesel fuel to supply its electricity. It was supplied by the 3 megawatt (MW) power station, serving 6.7 gigawatt hours of annual customer demand, peaking at 1.3MW.

Hydro Tasmania

, with the support of the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, developed the Flinders Island "Hydro Energy Hub" – a hybrid system capable of displacing 60 percent, on average, of the annual diesel fuel used to generate electricity on Flinders Island. This system is also capable of "diesel-off" operation, providing 100 percent renewable penetration when conditions allow.

With expertise in delivering world leading solutions to reduce diesel generation costs in remote and off grid power systems, Hydro Tasmania offers proprietary integration technology coupled with high quality market source equipment, to provide an optimised renewable energy solution.

As part of this project, Hydro Tasmania developed a number of proprietary technologies that are both scalable and modular, to minimise engineering time and costs.

Scalable and Modular Renewable Energy

According to Ray Massie, Manager Hybrid Energy Solutions, Hydro Tasmania, “the key to a secure and reliable hybrid system are the enablers supporting the renewable generators to maximise their contribution while maintaining security of supply.”

“The scalable and modular units plug into existing diesel stations to form the core of the new hybrid power system. The Flinders Island project involved the integration of new renewable generation into the existing power system to help ensure secure and reliable power supply,” he explained.

Main Image

Each enabler system has been provided with local HMI for local access so operators can manage monitoring, diagnostics and set point entry.

Hydro Tasmania constructed a single 900kw wind turbine and 200kw solar array. The enabling system includes a 750kw/300kwh battery, a fly wheel and synchronous condenser, and 1.5MW dynamic resistors, which is transported and housed in scalable modular containerised units designed by Hydro Tasmania.

Keeping the Power Station Under Control

“For the control requirements, we chose Rockwell Automation products for all the systems because of the consistency, reliability, availability and ease of integration. This includes timely delivery support by the local Rockwell Automation Authorised Distributor, NHP Electrical Engineering (NHP),” Massie said.

NHP

 prides itself on providing custom solutions tailored to customers needs, supported by expert service.

The power station control system was founded on proprietary PLC code developed in-house by Hydro Tasmania and run on the Rockwell Automation system architecture, which provided seamless integration of control and communication equipment with fast and reliable delivery of data.

The system is based on distributed control with a main supervisory control that manages all distributed enablers and power generating equipment.

Main Image

Hydro Tasmania developed a number of proprietary technologies that are both scalable and modular to minimise engineering time and costs.

“We chose the Allen‑Bradley® CompactLogix™ for the distributed control of the solar, battery, flywheel and switchgear because it helped to lower the cost, minimised space and IO, whereas the dynamic resistor enabler used ControlLogix® due to the large program and number of IOs,” he explained.

The main hybrid power system controller that manages all distributed enablers and power generators works to ensure reliable power and maximum diesel fuel savings. Due to the complexity of managing continuous variability in renewable energy sources and customer load, the main controller is capable of the demanding task of ensuring renewable resources are maximised and optimised.

ControlLogix control systems have the inherent speed to respond to these challenges and also has the capability for decision making to provide reliable and quality power supply to the grid.

Main Image

The ControlLogix® processor was selected due to its speed, reliability and ability to provide seamless integration of control and communication equipment.

“Another challenge that had to be addressed involved receiving electrical data in real time in order respond to demand variability. The Allen‑Bradley PowerMonitor™ 5000 provided a great response time to achieve these results,” said Massie.

Main Image

The main control screen gives operators a real time summary of power system performance.

Plant Visibility and Remote Monitoring

During the commissioning of the project, there were some components that did not communicate with the Ethernet/IP network and therefore ProSoft gateways were selected to allow for better integration. ProSoft, a Rockwell Automation Encompass Partner, provides products that are designed specifically to deliver non-core network connectivity for the Rockwell Automation architecture.

The backbone of the network was based on Stratix® switches, providing reliability and integrity to the network for transferring data securely across the power station.

To provide visibility to operators, three FactoryTalk® View SE stations were used – two in the power station and one in the control container in the hybrid enablers’ area, located 50 meters away from the power station main building.

“Each enabler system has been provided with local HMI using PanelView™ Plus for local access so operators can manage monitoring, diagnostics and set point entry. Studio 5000® and FactoryTalk® View Studio provided a common platform for programming all the controllers HMI with the convenience of using the same data structure and reusable tools,” Massie said.

The power station can be monitored remotely using FactoryTalk ViewPoint HMI, providing real time information of the status and important parameters. Operators also have access to power station alarms when offsite and for remote sites visibility via phone or email to help ensure timely attention to alarms.

FactoryTalk Historian provides historical data for optimising the system and commercial decision making. The system also provides operators quick access to historic data, enabling them to generate a quick report of parameters for analysis and diagnosis.

“We leveraged the capabilities of Rockwell Automation TechConnect support who were prompt to answer our queries and when we had any issues they assisted us to resolve it professionally,” said Massie.

Reliable Renewable Energy

The Flinders Island project was successfully commissioned and in operation on October 2017 and was officially launched by Grant Every-Burns, Chairman of Hydro Tasmania in December 2017.

The Flinders Island Hydro Energy Hub is a showcase for innovation and achievement, dramatically reducing the island’s traditional dependence on diesel generation. At the time of the launch the power station achieved more than 92 continuous hours of 100 percent renewable generation, a world record for a megawatt scale non-hydropower system.

To date the system has achieved over 2000 hours of accumulated 100 percent renewable “Diesel-Off” operation with an average renewable energy penetration of 57 percent.

 

Allen‑Bradley, ControlLogix, FactoryTalk, PanelView, Rockwell Software and Stratix are trademarks of Rockwell Automation, Inc.

Published May 6, 2018

Topics: Power Generation
Subscribe

Subscribe to Rockwell Automation and receive the latest news, thought leadership and information directly to your inbox.

Subscribe

Recommended For You

Loading
Leading Power Company Reduces Threat Response Time
Leading Power Company Reduces Threat Response Time
Case Study
Case Study
Leading Power Company Reduces Threat Response Time
Secured legacy assets—coal, gas, wind, solar, hydro—with Verve by Rockwell Automation platform for real-time risk visibility and faster threat response.
Energy Company Achieved Readiness in Eight Months
Energy Company Achieved Readiness in Eight Months
Case Study
Case Study
Energy Company Achieved Readiness in Eight Months
Energy firm reached CIS Controls maturity in 8 months with unified IT/OT security, compliance, and risk reduction thanks to Rockwell Automation.
Successful Turnkey DCS Migration for Corteva Agriscience
Successful Turnkey DCS Migration for Corteva Agriscience
Case Study
Case Study
Successful Turnkey DCS Migration for Corteva Agriscience
Corteva, a major American agricultural chemical and seed company, migrates its proprietary control system to PlantPAx modern distributed control system.
  1. Chevron LeftChevron Left Rockwell Automation Home Chevron RightChevron Right
  2. Chevron LeftChevron Left Com... Chevron RightChevron Right
  3. Chevron LeftChevron Left News Chevron RightChevron Right
  4. Chevron LeftChevron Left Case Studies Chevron RightChevron Right
  5. Chevron LeftChevron Left Hydro Tasmania Develops an Advanced Utility Grade Hybrid Energy Solution Chevron RightChevron Right
Company
About Us Careers Diversity, Ethics and Integrity Engage Online Community Investor Relations Modern Slavery Statement Sustainability Trust Center
 
News & Events
Newsroom Press Releases Automation Fair Upcoming Events
 
Trending Topics
Cybersecurity Digital Transformation Smart Manufacturing The Connected Enterprise®
 
Training
Webinars Workforce Development Training
 
PartnerNetwork
Find a Partner What is the PartnerNetwork?
 
Our Brands
Allen-Bradley FactoryTalk LifecycleIQ Services
Contact Us
TechConnect Support Customer Care General Inquiries How to Buy Report Ethical Concerns
Insights
ROKStudios Management Perspectives Results Achieved Case Studies Blogs Automation Today Podcasts
BlogRockwell Automation's Blog
IE | EN
Legal Notices
Privacy & Cookies Policy
Email Preferences
Cookie Settings
Accessibility Settings
© 2025 Rockwell Automation
Rockwell Automation Home
Please update your cookie preferences to continue.
This feature requires cookies to enhance your experience. Please update your preferences to allow for these cookies:
  • Social Media Cookies
  • Functional Cookies
  • Performance Cookies
  • Marketing Cookies
  • All Cookies
You can update your preferences at any time. For more information please see our Privacy Policy
CloseClose