The QLD-NSW Interconnector (QNI) upgrade is 80 per cent complete and has moved from the civil construction stage to the electrical stage. Once complete, the TransGrid interconnector will ensure reliable and low cost energy sharing.
TransGrid Executive Manager Works Delivery, Craig Stallan, said, “We have already finished key elements of this upgrade, including gantry construction at our Dumaresq and Tamworth substations and the replacement and upgrade of towers.
“We are very pleased to have achieved 99 per cent of the transmission line upgrade to 120 degrees Celsius, which allows higher power transfers while maintaining statutory ground clearances for the higher temperatures.”
Mr Stallan said the QNI team has continued to meet the ongoing challenges of COVID-19 as well as the complex requirements of the project which incorporates new technology.
New equipment in the QNI upgrade includes new capacitor banks, static VAR compensators (SVCs), SVC transformers and associated 330kV switch bays. The capacitor banks provide additional reactive power, while the SVC regulates the reactive power on the grid.
“This technology will optimise the real power flows on the transmission lines and enables us to control the power flows between NSW and Queensland – as well as providing grid stability,” Mr Stallan said.
More than 280 people have been employed during the construction on the transmission lines and in substations in Armidale, Tamworth and Dumaresq.
For more information about the QNI project, visit here.
