Power for the SKA Dr Georgina Harris MEng(Hons), MBA, EngD, CEng, MIMechE SKA Program Development Office with Contributions from the Power and Infrastructure Interest Group
Presentation Overview Power Requirements Developed for the Request for Information from the Sites Overview of Power Requirements for SKA SKA Core Power Infrastructure SKA Remote Station Power Options RFI Mitigation Sharing of Best Practice from the Precursors and Pathfinders Industry Engagement
Power Requirements Developed for the Request for Information from the Sites Maximal Phase II: Central 40km by 40km Operations Centre 10MW 40MW Super Computer Facility / Archive
Power Requirements Developed for the Request for Information from the Sites Maximal Phase II: Full layout to 180km 14MW Dishes out to 180km 10MW AA-Low out to 180km 31MW AA-Mid out to 180km
Power Requirements for Remote Stations (2.4MW)
Overview of Power Requirements for SKA Power Consumption Estimates in SKA Maximal Phase II Model SKA 2 Receptors: Core, Inner, Mid Zones* Unit Power Consumption Number Total (Station, Dish or facility) (kw) Dishes with PAFs (out to 100 km)** 6 2270 13620 Dishes without PAFs 4 130 520 AA-low stations 40 250 10000 AA-mid stations 123 250 30750 Total Receptors (MW) 55 Station-site Unit Power Consumption Number Total Dish Stations (24 dishes) (kw) Dishes without PAFs in remote stations 96 25 2400 Total at Remote Stations (MW) 2.4 Central Site Power Consumption Number Total (Facility) (kw) Central Processing Facility 10000 1 10000 Infrastructure 100 1 100 Total Central Site (not incl. Receptors) (MW) 10 Off-site Power Consumption Number Total (Facility) (kw) SuperComputer Facility & Archive 40000 1 40000 Total Off-site (MW) 40 * Future Targets - Based on a Reduction in AA-mid Power ** 2 kw per dish allocated to PAFs.
Power Budgeting
Power Consumption by Nation
SKA Core Power Infrastructure Delivery of Power by Transmission Lines SKA Should Aim for Lowest Long-Term Power Cost via Power Purchase Agreements We want to operate a telescope not a power grid Strategically Tender for Renewable Energy Solar Thermal Generation / Large Scale PV Subsystem Power budgets / Load profiles need to be developed Graceful shutdown of the system determines the minimum requirement of UPS / backup systems (safety / preservation e.g. cryogenic systems) In the core - the design and reticulation of power will be the responsibility of the SKA Organisation
Power SKA Lifetime Costs Full operations plan determines availability criteria for power Availability of power systems determines cost per Watt A cost / benefit trade-off of back-up power / redundant systems We can tolerate outages the sky will be there tomorrow The backup power requirements need to be determined for the fibre repeater stations (safety and control) The configuration of the core should be revisited in order to control the infrastructure costs during Phase I so that it is extensible to Phase II
SKA Remote Station Power Options
Remote Station Power Supply Existing supply chains should be utilised where available Lifetime cost (including energy / fuel storage) and availability is the priority here Use of green technologies should be maximised to stabilise lifetime power costs Standard power block should be developed for generation for initial use during SKA construction and redeployed at remote stations A fixed duration Power Purchase agreement may also be possible for the remote stations
Remote Stations Power Supply Where fossil fuels are to be used, the following costs need to be considered: Transportation (impact on road requirements) Security of supply (is fuel availability guaranteed) What is the optimum fuel efficiency we can expect Storage Radio Frequency Emission Mitigation
RFI Mitigation EMC Standards need to be examined carefully and the testing techniques that are used Development of SKA testing techniques and standards may be necessary The complexity and cost of RFI mitigation on power generation and reticulation are significant to the project and hence coordination of work in this area is urgent Testing and verification will be required throughout development and commissioning (RFI / EMI Policeman) Continuous RFI monitoring should be used throughout SKA rollout of infrastructure Lightning protection (low soil conductivity)
Sharing of Best Practice from the Precursors and Pathfinders Following the site decision for the SKA, it is expected that there will be project-wide sharing of expertise and experience from the precursor and pathfinder projects around the issues of RFI mitigation, Power and Infrastructure.
Industry Engagement After the site decision, the SKA project urgently need project-wide engagement with industry in the areas of power generation and its infrastructure