Stand-alone power systems
SPS is an off-grid power solution, independent to the main electricity grid, which generates, stores and delivers power to rural households and small businesses. It uses renewable energy via solar photovoltaic (PV) panels, battery storage, inverter(s) and a backup diesel generator. We pay for the upfront cost of the unit and any ongoing costs associated with operation and maintenance, faults and replacement. Customers continue to be billed by their retailer at the same unit cost as a grid or network connected property.
An SPS is a self-sufficient off-grid power source. Energy is generated by the solar panels, powering the property and charging the batteries for use when the sun isn’t shining. A backup generator also kicks in when needed to keep energy flowing. The unit operates independently of the main electricity grid to store and deliver reliable power to a household or business.
90-95% of the SPS electricity comes from solar panels and stored solar energy in the battery.
In rural and remote areas, customers are serviced by powerlines that stretch over long distances. Using SPS instead of poles and wires on suitable properties and locations has a number of benefits, including:
- Improved power reliability: as power is generated on-site, customers can expect up to 90% less power outages.
- Removing overhead network: powerlines will be removed once all properties on the connecting spur have been converted to SPS, allowing us to decommission the overhead network in this area.
- Bushfire risk reductionlowers bushfire risks in rural areas.
- Lowering emissions: 90-95% of the SPS electricity comes from solar panels and the stored solar energy in the battery.Modular and adaptable: SPS units come in different sizes so they can be adapted to suit a customer’s power needs.
- Small footprint: An SPS enclosure requires a small footprint, typically, meaning reliable power, using the smallest possible space.
- Innovation: SPS plays a key role in our strategy to develop a modular grid , which will create a more renewable and greener energy future for WA. Learn more about this innovation and how it’s positioned WA as a world leader in renewable SPS technology.
After comprehensive feasibility evaluation, we will reach out to customers eligible for the SPS program.
Some of the things we consider when determining eligibility include:
- The location of the customer and whether they’re on an isolated line or part of a small groups of customers located on the edge of the grid
- Network reliability in the area
- When the network assets in the area are due for replacement
- The cost of replacing network assets compared with providing SPS to these properties
- The topography of the area, and
- Existing network maintenance requirements.
The success of our SPS program has resulted in a strong interest from regional families and businesses who are keen to have SPS installed on their property. Currently, only customers who live on properties we’ve identified after a comprehensive feasibility evaluation are eligible. We proactively contact customers who meet the eligibility criteria.
We cover the cost of SPS installation, maintenance and replacement. This includes site visits and investigations, system installation and ongoing maintenance.
We design our SPS systems to cater for the standard supply of 63A, with up to 40A of inrush, as defined in the WASIR. Given the range of customer load & consumption requirements, we’ve designed our fleet to be modular and flexible, and can be scaled up or down.
SPS sizing is based on:
- a detailed review of the customer’s historical consumption data, and where available advanced metering (AMI) data
- a site inspection
- the customer’s approved future plans.
Our initial customer engagement, site visit and review of historical consumption data is critical to provide us with the information we need to get the SPS sizing right. The nature, timing and duration of the load being used would impact the PV and battery capacity required for the system.
On days with significantly higher night time energy consumption than usual, or days with cloud cover, backup generation may be utilised. The design of the system is in accordance with the relevant Australian Standards (4509 & ASNSZ 3000) and a lifecycle assessment is used to identify the optimum mix of solar, battery storage and backup generation. We currently aim for greater than 90-95% of all energy to be generated from renewable sources.
A single SPS can supply a maximum of five customers, but this may vary depending on the capacity needs of each connection. However, in most cases due to energy requirements, distance between sites and available space, usually only one SPS is deployed per connection.
While SPS are installed in rural areas, they have significant flow-on benefits for customers in metropolitan and other built-up areas.
SPS operate like a mini-micro-grid, providing self-sufficient, renewable and reliable power on-site for a customer. The first Western Power SPS trial in 2016 looked to understand how new technologies could be used to create renewable energy solutions that deliver improved power quality in a more cost-effective way. These learnings have been used to inform other energy technology developments across the grid.
SPS provides significant cost savings as they reduce the need for poles and wires infrastructure replacement and maintenance in remote areas. These savings are being reinvested back into the network, enabling the roll-out of more energy technology solutions like community batteries in Perth metro or renewable microgrids in regional towns.
With technologies like SPS, our network is transforming. It is becoming more modular with localised energy solutions and more renewable integration, creating a smarter and more sustainable energy future for us all.
Discover how SPS in rural WA started a renewable energy transformation in metro areas
If you require a new connection at your property within 10 years of poles and wires being decommissioned, we will connect your property in accordance with the Electricity Industry (Obligation to Connect) Regulations (2005). As the traditional overhead network will be decommissioned, any new connection at this location will be serviced by a SPS.
To ensure you are not disadvantaged by the removal of the overhead network, we will preserve the network equivalent connection costs for new connection applications for premises within 100 metres of the removed poles and wires, for a period of two years from the date of notification of our intention to decommission the network. This means, if you need a new connection at your property where network infrastructure is scheduled for removal or has already been removed, you will be able to receive that new connection at the lowest cost – either a network equivalent cost or SPS cost, whichever is lower. After the two-year period has expired, any new customers will be required to pay the full cost of an SPS connection.
The preservation of connection costs is attached to the land, not the customer. For example, in cases where an eligible customer decides to sell or subdivide their land, the new landowner(s) of the property or the subdivided land parcels are eligible for the preserved network connection costs if they have bought the property and applied for a new connection within two years of the customer communication regarding decommissioning being sent.
To be eligible to receive a new connection at the ‘lowest cost’ during this period, you will need to provide all relevant planning information (including, but not limited to, building permits, development plans and approvals or certified electrical loads) when applying for a new connection.
For more information, please contact us.
We want to keep you safe, so if we identify electrical equipment that is faulty or damaged while we’re on site you will need to fix it at your cost.
Common examples include damaged meter boards, faulty earth stakes, and dilapidated private power poles.
In instances where this poses an immediate and critical safety risk, we are required by law to disconnect your power at the meter. We provide a ‘Your Action Required’ pack detailing what needs to be fixed. Customers are required to rectify these issues at their cost and need to be fixed by a licensed electrical contractor before we can turn your power back on.
As a localised renewable technology solution, SPS provide self-sufficient power to rural properties, businesses and locations where they are installed. This means we can remove the powerlines providing power to these properties once the SPS is commissioned. This reduces bushfire risk as long powerlines exposed to dust, debris, lightning and other environmental factors, pose a fire risk. As poles are de-energised, and then removed (decommissioned), this risk is eliminated.
SPS are a safer, greener and more reliable power supply alternative for rural WA customers.
Customers powered by SPS
We’ll reach out to you if your connection has been identified as potentially suitable for SPS. A member of the SPS team will explain the program, its benefits and ask questions or send you a survey to help us understand how you use power.
Our team will then contact you to confirm if your connection has been selected to progress to a site visit to further investigate the suitability of the connection for SPS.
An advanced meter (AMI) will be installed to gather real-time data about your power usage. Once installed, we will analyse the data to get an accurate understanding of how and when you use power. This will provide valuable information to help us size and design the SPS.
Next, we’ll schedule a site visit to your property to gather more information about your power requirements. This important visit is where we assess your power needs and decide on a location for the SPS. Your input along with the advanced metering data will provide us with an accurate energy profile.
If we identify any faulty electrical equipment on your property or areas that require improvement during the site visit, you will be required to remedy this issue at your cost.
Call our 24-hour emergency line on 13 13 51 to report a fault or hazard. You’ll need to provide your property address, NMI or meter number. These details can all be found on your Synergy bill.
Although the risk of fire in an SPS is low it is always important to be prepared. In the event of a fire approaching, or suspected fire within the SPS area, please follow the below steps:
- Do not attempt to fight a fire within the SPS enclosure (fenced area).
- Contact 000 immediately.
- Report the fire to Western Power on 13 13 51.
If safe to do so (outside the SPS enclosure), minimise the spread of a fire e.g., wetting down surrounding vegetation. Ensure you’re protected from any fumes.
As part of its regular maintenance, we are responsible for maintaining any vegetation within the SPS enclosure, we urge you to have other general fire mitigation measures in place to minimise risk. These include maintaining fire breaks, including surrounding the SPS enclosure, and updating your bushfire plans.
Visit dfes.wa.gov.au for more advice on bushfire preparedness.
While we manage the cost and responsibility of the ongoing operation and maintenance of SPS, customers and property owners are expected to:
- Not enter the SPS enclosure
- Provide Western Power with all necessary access to the property
- Maintain the area surrounding the SPS, including avoiding planting vegetation that once mature could shade the SPS solar panels or overhang the SPS enclosure
- If building new structures, such as sheds, ensure they are not located near the SPS enclosure. Some structures can either shade the solar panels, or contribute to heating the SPS enclosure, which can reduce the system’s reliability. Please get in touch with our team if you have any plans to build new structures in the vicinity of the SPS
- Let us know prior to installing any generation (renewable or otherwise), and
- Continue to pay Synergy for energy consumed.
For safety reasons, only qualified persons authorised by Western Power are permitted to access the SPS unit and the surrounding compound. Under the Energy Operators (Powers) Act 1979 (WA), it is an offence for an unauthorised person to access or interfere with the Western Power network (which includes SPS units operated by Western Power). Each offence may carry a fine of up to $2,000.
If you become aware of a fault with the SPS unit or compound, please contact Western Power on 13 13 51.
The SPS unit uses renewable energy (i.e. solar and battery) up to 95% of the time to meet your power needs. For the remainder, a back-up generator supplements your power needs.
The amount your SPS generator will run per week will be impacted by things like:
- How much electricity you’re using daily
- Electricity use overnight
- Environmental conditions like cloud cover
- Seasonal changes
At a minimum, your back-up generator will run for 15 minutes once a week as part of its maintenance cycle.
When we install your SPS, the generator is placed, on average, 250m away from any residential buildings. This helps to minimise the noise that may come from the generator, particularly in the evenings.
You don’t need to refuel the SPS generator. We service the SPS annually (at a minimum) and receive notifications when your fuel level is low. We’ll contact you before we need to access your property to carry out any work.
Our SPS are designed to provide suitable levels of inrush current for most common appliances. The requirements within the Western Australian Service and Installation Requirements (WASIR) specify max inrush of 40A for the Western Power Small network area (which includes 10kVa and 25kVa split phase transformers).
Inrush above 40A may be possible in certain circumstances; however, it is not guaranteed on an SPS or on the overhead network.
This means that any equipment larger than 2kVA is likely to exceed 40Amps inrush without soft starting mechanisms. If you would like more information, please reach out to our team and we can talk you through your individual needs.
Please contact us if you’re planning to expand, lease or sell your property. This is to help us understand how energy use at this property may change, as well as updating contact details.
If you are looking to significantly increase your energy use at the property, it is important you reach out to discuss with us, providing as much notice as possible.
Where possible, we will try to contact you prior to entering your property. If we can’t get in touch, we’ll still need to access the property. As the energy operator, we’re permitted to enter properties for these purposes. For more information, please visit Land Access Legislation.
You will continue to receive a bill from Synergy for the electricity you use. The cost per unit of electricity will not change and is the same as network-connected customers. If your electricity usage stays the same, so will your bill.
Want to lower your power bill? Find easy and energy efficient changes you can make at energy.gov.au
SPS integration with existing customer solar panels is still being trialled.
We’re currently working towards a long-term technical solution but we do not have a confirmed solution available at this stage. It is important that you call our customer experience team on 13 10 87 or email us before submitting an application for solar panels.
Please contact us or email the SPS team so we can investigate this for you.
We understand issues with SPS may arise and we encourage your feedback. Please contact us and or alternatively, you can submit your feedback online or write to us at:
Complaints Team,
Locked Bag 2530,
Perth, WA 6001
For more information visit the Western Power complaints handling process.
All customer connections identified as suitable for the SPS Program will be offered a Western Power owned and operated SPS unit.
However, in some exceptional cases, we offer a one-off payment in lieu of a network connection. This allows eligible landowners to self-source an off-grid power supply, the network connection would then be removed.
To be eligible, the connection must have an active meter and the customer must be paying a daily supply charge. A customer will have 30 days to decide if they want to accept the PSA offer, after this point they will be, where appropriate, returned to the SPS program.
It is a big decision to remove the electricity connection to the property and we ask that customers carefully consider a number of factors including obtaining tax advice and market quotes for a replacement. It is important to consider the full cost of an independent off-grid power supply including the lifetime cost of maintenance, repairs and replacement.
For connections identified as primary residences a customer must fall into one of the ‘by exception’ scenarios to receive a PSA:
- Technical – Where we don’t have a current technical SPS design to support the customer’s needs
- Existing grid independence – where the customer has a high level of grid independence through personal investment and want to achieve 100% self sufficiency
- Emergency response – In circumstances where the network has been destroyed in an SPS designated zone, and the customer, by choice, requests financial support to go off grid; or
- Low or intermittent energy use.
A primary residential connection is where the abolishment of supply at the connection point would result in there being no Western Power electrical supply to the property whatsoever.
If a customer is approved to receive a PSA for a primary residential connection, a Section 70 notification will be placed on the Certificate of Title for the property. This will note the primary residential connection was once connected to our network; however, is no longer connected following abolishment of a connection point and customer acceptance of a payment.
Approval of whether a customer would be suitable to receive a one-off financial contribution is at the discretion of Western Power.
Western Power will contact all eligible property owners who live on, or near, a portion of the network that is being, or has been transitioned to SPS to inform them of these changes. To ensure customers are not disadvantaged because of the removal of these assets, Western Power will preserve the network equivalent connection costs for new connection applications within 100 metres of removed poles and wires, for a period of two years. This means, if a customer seeks a new connection on their property, where network infrastructure is scheduled for removal (or has already been removed), they will be able to receive that new connection at the ‘lowest cost’ being either a network equivalent cost or SPS cost, whichever is lower. After the two-year period has expired, any new customers will be required to pay the full cost of a SPS connection.
Western Power will send a letter to all customers who live within 100m of the portion of the network that is being decommissioned as part of the SPS program, and the two-year preservation period will commence from the date on that letter.
You’ll need to apply for a new connection and pay the full cost of SPS instalment.
We’ll honour the network connection cost for new connection applications for two years from the date the line was transitioned to SPS, if the network connection is lower than the cost of a SPS. The two-year period commences on the date the property owner is contacted by us, and is tied to the land, not the property owner. If the property is sold during this two-year period, the new property owner can apply for a new connection at the lower connection cost.
To be eligible to receive a new connection at the ‘lowest cost’ during the two-year period, you’ll need to provide all relevant documentation and planning information including, but not limited to:
- Development plans
- Third party approvals
- Certified electrical loads
If a SPS customer wants the SPS removed from their property because they no longer need a connection at the SPS site location, they will need to contact the SPS team directly on 9326 4140 or sps@westernpower.com.au.
Please call our community engagement team on 9326 4140 or email sps@westernpower.com.au