Australian power utility Energex has completed a project connecting the Raby Bay, Birkdale and Lota substations in Queensland. The company has said that nearly 10,000 local homes and businesses will benefit from the project.

The A$650,000 project involves the interconnection of the three substations via a series of new underground cables and overhead powerlines and will allow Energex technicians to share power between the areas much faster should additional supply be required.

Energex has said that the new upgrades now bolsters power supply in Cleveland, Ormiston, Wellington Point, Birkdale, Thorneside, Lota and Alexandra Hills in Queensland.

Kevin Ball, Energex's network program group manager, said: "In the past if we had to shift power between each area it had to be done through a complex series of electricity networks. These upgrades essentially give us an electricity freeway allowing Energex to shift load when required much faster through higher capacity cables and lines.

"This will be very handy during times of emergencies such as storm related power interruptions because in most cases our technicians will use the new network to reroute electricity and get the lights back on quicker."