Essential Energy has hit key milestones in its ongoing program of works to deliver a more resilient and reliable power supply to the communities outside of Broken Hill.
Projects that began in 2023 in Ivanhoe and Tibooburra have reached a few milestones that will provide the community with a backup supply of electricity, when needed.
A generator has been successfully commissioned in Ivanhoe that can provide power to the community during an unplanned outage, with a battery storage system to be installed in 2026.
The Tibooburra community has also had a generator installed that can provide a backup power supply, with a microgrid to be built to further improve reliability in 2025.
There are also plans to provide more power resilience to Packsaddle and Milparinka, which involve installing battery storage to work with existing solar installations at the Packsaddle Roadhouse and Milparinka Hotel next year.
Although the impact of the October 2024 storm that took out the electricity transmission line into the Broken Hill region highlighted the need for these types of projects, Essential Energy has been working on these projects for well over 12 months. As increasingly volatile climate conditions heavily impact the electricity grid, it can become more vulnerable along the long spans of powerlines. The energy transition is providing the solar and storage technology to build microgrids that can provide a backup source of electricity until the main lines can be restored.
Essential Energy is committed to delivering solutions for the Far West communities that provide off-grid power supply in the event of an unplanned outage.
Featured image: Essential Energy is commissioning an automated generator in Ivanhoe. Image: Essential Energy.
