Fewer moving parts, less cross-discipline work and smaller crews – but just as critical.
Our first ever annual Megapack maintenance at the Greenbank and Chinchilla batteries has just wrapped up, and while we have a long history of managing overhauls at our coal-fired assets, we’ve had to adapt to manage our batteries.
“The theory is similar to an overhaul,” Electrical Maintainer Operator, Jeff Watts said.
“It’s about effective planning at the front end, getting safe access to isolated plant, and performing high quality maintenance.
"There are no rotating shafts, much less risk of dropped objects, and limited work from heights, but there are unique risks and elements to manage," he said.
Smaller crews, different complexity
In a battery overhaul, about four Megapacks are worked on under one isolation a day, by a team of 4-10 Tesla engineers working together with CS Energy’s team. This means the remainder of site can still operate at a reduced capacity throughout the maintenance period.
CS Energy has 188 Megapacks – 80 at Chinchilla, and 108 at Greenbank – and it takes between four to 10 weeks to get through all of them.
Above: The Greenbank Battery.
What the work involves
Jeff said the scope prepared is a mix of work that has been identified through unplanned breakdowns and planned maintenance, along with the specialist maintenance that only Tesla can perform.
"Some of the tasks completed are basic cleaning of the internals of the Megapacks, replacing inverter modules, replacing power stages, coolant top-ups, cooling system/fan repairs or replacements and door gasket replacements,” said Jeff.
“Tesla has remote monitoring and diagnostic capabilities and will perform different maintenance tasks based on what they identify when they open up the Megapacks.”
Focus on safety and quality
Jeff said Tesla’s engineering team works on different sites both within Australia and internationally, so it’s important we guide them on working safely and within the boundaries of our policies and procedures on our sites.
“The process is the same as any other contingent worker – Tesla go through our induction processes and work under our permit to work (PTW) system,” he said. “We make it clear to them there’s no pressure to get plant back online – we want to get it right the first time.
“We want to make sure we’re targeting zero incidents and injuries and a high quality of work."
This means effective planning, getting the right skills and experience, and teamwork.
Above: Operations Superintendent - Renewables and Firming, Mick Louis, at the Chinchilla Battery.
A different type of project
“Overhauls on our thermal assets are real achievements every time we do them, with how complex the scope is and with hundreds of people relying on everyone being aligned to get the job done,” he said.
“Our two battery assets are much simpler, but still critical.
“Our focus is on delivering a high-quality result so both batteries are fully available for the traders when they’re needed.”