APD Global delivers substation design and engineering up to 500 kV - primary plant selection and layout, secondary systems, protection, civil and structural, earthing, lightning protection, and 3D design with VR review capability. Nothing is handed off to a subcontractor the client doesn't see.
The team is accredited with Essential Energy, Western Power, Transgrid, ElectraNet, Ausgrid, AusNet, TasNetworks and other Australian network owners. In New Zealand, accreditation extends to Transpower and the distribution networks. New European clients are served from the Rome and Milan offices.
AIS and GIS
Air-insulated and gas-insulated switchgear to 500 kV, including 132 kV GIS substations for Essential Energy and Western Power. APD has delivered zone substations, terminal substations, switching stations and customer substations. Where the site is constrained - urban infill, brownfield industrial, space-limited network - GIS is a first-class offer: the hall, the basement, the frames the plant sits on. GIS substations →
3D design and VR review
Greenfield projects are delivered in 3D with VR review capability - enabling client sign-off of constructability, access, clearances and aesthetics before a sod is turned. The same model feeds construction and O&M documentation.
Owner's engineer and independent engineer
Where the client needs a technical check rather than a design team, APD operates as owner's engineer or independent engineer - reviewing third-party substation engineering, witnessing testing, and providing the independent assurance that lenders, regulators and operators need on high-consequence assets.
Earthing, lightning and EMF
Earthing design sits inside the same bench, not with a subcontractor - CDEGS modelling, EPR, LFI and EMF assessments, lightning protection and pipeline assessments, backed by site testing that matches the model. Every substation leaves with an earthing system designed and proven by the team that laid out the yard.
Where the substations fit in the transition
From distribution voltages through to 500 kV, every HV substation APD designs is a connection point of the energy transition - terminal stations for REZ transmission, BESS substations, and the brownfield replacements that keep existing networks running while new plant connects under AEMO's NEM processes and Western Power's WEM. Protection, automation and SCADA are designed in from the start - relay settings, IEC 61850, RTU/SCADA cutovers and lab proving before energisation.
Connecting plant to the grid as well as building the substation? See grid connection Australia and power system studies.
Earthing design - what's at stake when a fault hits
Effective earthing is one of those things you rarely notice when it's done right - and absolutely notice when it isn't. As renewable projects grow in scale and complexity, understanding how fault current behaves below the surface is critical to protecting people, assets and network performance.
- On-site soil measurements
- CDEGS modelling of the earthing system
- Verification against Australian and international standards
APD Global's engineers design earthing systems with one outcome in mind: when something goes wrong, the site responds exactly as designed. Because sometimes, the best engineering outcome is that nothing happens.
Selected substation projects
From GIS zone substations to 500 kV terminals.
Jerrabomberra Zone Substation
Greenfield GIS zone substation for Essential Energy - building, plant, VR/AR design reviews, full multidisciplinary delivery.
The case →Bunning Lake
Western Power. New GIS substation plus secondary at Sutherland Street - digital twin, then a physical scale model of the same yard.
The film →WA Clean Energy Link - North
Detail design for two 330 kV and three 132 kV terminals, plus twelve line packages and associated communications.
Eraring BESS substation
New BESS substation and integration into the existing Eraring switchyard, including Stage 1 and 2 330 kV connection circuits.
Substation design - the questions asked most
Frequently asked questions.
What does electrical substation design include?
A complete substation design covers primary plant selection and layout, secondary systems and protection, civil and structural engineering, earthing and lightning protection, SCADA and telecommunications, and the construction and commissioning documentation that takes the asset to energisation. APD Global delivers all of these disciplines in-house, up to 500 kV - nothing handed to a subcontractor the client doesn't see.
What is the difference between AIS and GIS substations?
AIS (air-insulated switchgear) uses open-air busbars and switchgear across a larger yard; GIS (gas-insulated switchgear) encloses the switchgear in sealed, insulated modules, allowing a far smaller footprint - often inside a building. GIS suits constrained urban, brownfield or space-limited sites; AIS generally costs less where land is available. More on GIS substations →
What is a zone substation?
A zone substation steps power down from the sub-transmission network (typically 66-132 kV) to distribution voltages that supply homes and businesses - transformers, switchgear, protection and control in one facility. APD Global has delivered zone substations across Australia and New Zealand, including full greenfield GIS zone substations such as South Jerrabomberra for Essential Energy.
Who designs substations in Australia?
Specialist power engineering consultancies accredited with the network owners. APD Global is accredited with Essential Energy, Western Power, Transgrid, ElectraNet, Ausgrid, AusNet and TasNetworks among others, and designs substations from distribution voltages up to 500 kV.
Why is earthing critical in substation design?
The earthing system carries fault current safely into the ground and keeps touch and step voltages within safe limits for anyone on or near the site. It must be designed together with the substation layout, not retrofitted - soil resistivity measurement, CDEGS modelling, and injection testing that proves the installed grid matches the model. Earthing design & testing →