Construction has started on four key Western Power sites as part of Western Australia’s Clean Energy Link-North project.
The project is the largest investment in electricity transmission infrastructure in more than a decade.
It includes building and upgrading high-capacity transmission lines, terminals, substations and transformers along a 354-kilometre corridor from Western Power’s Northern Terminal in Malaga to Three Springs.
The grid upgrade will double the network capacity in some sections of the South West Interconnected System, which will expand the network’s capacity to connect, transport and deliver more renewable energy.
Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said: “The Clean Energy Link – North expansion is a key power grid upgrade that will help us to exit state-owned coal by 2030 – faster than any other state.
“It lays the groundwork for a secure energy future for WA and marks one of the biggest infrastructure builds undertaken on the network, that will expand network capacity, drive economic growth, and enable the decarbonisation and electrification of existing industries.”
Construction work underway includes earthworks and electrical work within the existing Northern Terminal; civil work and upgrades at the 132-kilovolt Neerabup Terminal; the installation of two 550-megavolt-amepere transformers at Regans Terminal and earthworks at Eneabbato to expand the terminal and construct a new terminal station.
There are also plans to expand the transmission network east of Collie.
Clean Energy Link—North will make around 400MW of existing wind and another one gigawatt of new renewable energy available to customers across the SWIS and enable more clean energy generation in the Mid West.