The electrical fit out of a major substation in Rose Bay, Sydney, Australia, has begun and civil construction is expected to be complete in August. Two 50-MVA transformers will be delivered to The Avenue, Rose Bay site in June and will be installed along with modern high voltage equipment like 132,000 volt and 11,000 volt switchgear, to help secure the local electricity supply.

About 150 builders, electrical fitters and testers, cable jointers and protection technicians will have worked on this important piece of electrical infrastructure when it is complete.
Ausgrid General Manager Transmission, Trevor Armstrong said the new $23 million zone substation was expected to be powering about 14,000 local homes and businesses by the end of 2012. “This new substation will replace older equipment on the adjacent site,” Armstrong said.

“The existing substation was commissioned in 1964 and has served local homes and business well over the years, but it is now time to retire that equipment. First built in 1924, the existing substation was used for the Eastern Suburbs tramways, before Sydney County Council acquired it for electricity supply purposes 40 years later.”

“The new substation will house modern equipment, ready to meet the needs of residents and business in Bellevue Hill, Bondi Beach, Dover Heights, North Bondi, Rose Bay, Vaucluse and Watsons Bay,” Armstrong said.

New underground cables will be installed between Surry Hills and Rose Bay to provide power to the substation. The final route for these cables is yet to be determined, however, they will link the Rose Bay substation to the underground cable tunnel network in Sydney’s CBD.

The Rose Bay substation is part of Ausgrid’s $1.3 billion investment in the electricity network in Sydney’s CBD and Eastern Suburbs between 2009 and 2014.