Update 31 October 2024
The Broken Hill transmission line is moving closer towards energisation, with Transgrid crews expediting reconstruction works to restore the far-west region’s primary power supply. The New South Wales network operator has also extended its support to the community by announcing $500,000 in grants.
Specialist crews from around Australia mobilised to stand seven emergency response towers. All high-voltage conductors have now been lifted into place, and work is progressing on tensioning, securing and testing the line that supplies mains power to far-west New South Wales.
Transgrid is carrying out an inspection of the 250km transmission line from Broken Hill to Buronga and expects to return it to service by Saturday, 2 November 2024.
The large-scale backup generator, supported by the microgrid, has continued to provide uninterrupted supply to Broken Hill over the past five days.
Head of Transgrid’s Far West Operations Response, Sam Pickering, said, “This has been an exceptional effort by our entire Transgrid team here on the ground in Broken Hill and I would like to reiterate my thanks to everyone involved.”
“In terms of what the community can expect, when the works and testing have been completed, the switchover to the transmission line will take place without interruption to the power supply here in Broken Hill.
“For some rural communities outside of Broken Hill that are currently being supplied by Essential Energy’s backup generation, we understand that Essential will need to conduct a planned outage to switch power from the portable generators to the main power supply and they will advise customers directly in advance.
“Looking forward to next steps, Transgrid is now planning for the installation of the permanent towers and the current additional backup generation will remain in place as added resilience to the Broken Hill grid.”
Transgrid’s announcement of $500,000 in new grants for community organisations and not-for-profit groups in impacted areas of far-west New South Wales, is in addition to its $1.5 million contribution to the State Government’s community support package for local residents and businesses.
“We are incredibly grateful for the local community’s patience since the catastrophic weather event and the support they have shown our crews as we carry out the high-risk and complex emergency response work,” Mr Pickering said.
“Transgrid’s Community Partnerships Program, which already operates in communities across Transgrid’s New South Wales network, provides grants to local not-for-profit organisations to fund a range of activities, including improving community facilities and services.
“While we are currently focusing on the emergency response, we are also working to further support local communities impacted by this event.
“Transgrid will continue to work with the New South Wales and local governments, communities, and other key stakeholders to provide further support beyond the recovery period.
“I would like to finish by restating our sincere thanks to the Broken Hill community and surrounding regions for their ongoing patience and support,” he said.
The Community Partnerships Program for Far West NSW will launch next week.
29 October 2024
All seven emergency response transmission towers have now been erected after an extreme storm impacted network infrastructure in New South Wales.
Following the catastrophic weather event, Transgrid crews are accelerating repairs to the 3.5km storm-damaged transmission line near Broken Hill in order to restore the primary power supply to the far-west region as soon as possible.
Transgrid said that more that 120 specialists worked in rotation 24/7 to safely lift seven 60m-tall high-voltage steel towers into place, with six cranes, eleven elevated work platforms and two excavators mobilised across the construction zone.
The next step will see specialist stringing crews begin to lift three conductors onto each transmission tower before testing begins at both ends of the 250km high-voltage line and the primary power supply can be switched on.
Transgrid Head Far West Operations Response, Sam Pickering, said, “This is significant progress, and I want to thank our team who have mobilised from across Australia and who continue to put in an enormous effort to reinstate the main power supply to Broken Hill.
“With the solid progress made over the weekend, we are continuing to concurrently review the scheduling of energisation of the primary power supply with potential to complete slightly ahead of the current date of 6 November. We will continue to keep the community of Broken Hill informed of our progress.”
Transgrid has increased the stability of backup power supplies to Broken Hill communities. A grid-scale battery, charged by a combination of the large-scale generator and excess rooftop solar, began dispatching power on 27 October to provide additional capacity during the evening peak period.
“As load on the generator increased to safe operating limits last night, the Transgrid control room discharged the grid-scale battery into the local network, helping ensure a stable flow of power to the community,” Mr Pickering said.
“This is a positive step in building further resilience into the network. This is also the first microgrid operating within the National Electricity Market.”
Mr Pickering also highlighted the high-risk nature of the work being carried out by Transgrid crews and reiterated the need to minimise disruptions so the permanent power supply could be returned as quickly and safely as possible.
“This is an emergency construction effort with our workers performing very challenging tasks,” he said.
“We ask that interested parties respect the strict exclusion zones, which are there for your safety, and to allow our team members to continue their critical emergency response work safely.”
Featured image: Emergency response crews installing the seventh and final tower near Broken Hill. Image: Transgrid.
