Wayne Coombs-Lewis asks about a petrol station supply, and whether a new high voltage (HV) substation will be required. His question is answered by the NICEIC (Theme – Power):
Question: We are involved in a petrol station project (refurbishing an existing installation), and introducing additional equipment has resulted in an increase in supply capacity.
The local DNO has advised that this will now require a new HV substation because of limitations on the existing supply network infrastructure.
To have a substation, with associated earthing (and the associated possible flashover risks in the event of a fault), seems like a bad thing to my mind.
Could someone please advise as to whether there are any specific regulations or requirements that would preclude having to install a new HV substation, whether it is permissible, and what regulations/requirements would apply?
Answer: Firstly, see the APEA Guide for Filling Stations - Section 14 (click the link below to download it - PDF - file size: 767kB).
If the load on the site is larger than the supply, then a new supply will be required.
All of the requirements for protection, earthing, fault levels, etc, are contained in the APEA Guide. This also requires additional documentation for the installation.
To be FULLY familiar with its requirements, I suggest that someone attend the CompEx training course, Units 07 & 08.
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