High-voltage electricity supply to the Burdekin region, Australia, has received a major boost with the completion of Powerlink Queensland’s replacement substation project at Clare. Powerlink Chief Operating Officer Simon Bartlett said the Powerlink project complemented Ergon Energy’s upgrade of its Clare Substation, which was completed late last year and is located adjacent to the new Powerlink substation. “These projects demonstrate Powerlink and Ergon Energy’s strong commitment to investing in North Queensland’s electricity network to deliver essential infrastructure,” he said.

Bartlett said Powerlink had acquired a parcel of land alongside the original Clare Substation site in 2007 for building the replacement substation.

“Powerlink’s original Clare Substation, which was built in the 1960s, needed to be replaced to ensure a secure and reliable bulk electricity supply continued to be maintained to the growing Burdekin region,” Bartlett said. “With electricity demand having increased in recent years, and further agricultural, commercial and industrial development expected in the future, this was an essential replacement project. “Powerlink’s new substation has considerably reinforced high voltage supply to nearby communities including Clare, Charters Towers, Ayr and Home Hill,” he said.

Bartlett said the project included the installation of new substation equipment, including two new higher capacity transformers. “These transformers are essential pieces of network equipment which convert high voltage electricity from Powerlink’s transmission network down to a lower voltage that is suitable for Ergon Energy’s distribution network,” Bartlett said.

“Powerlink’s original Clare Substation has now been decommissioned and construction crews have completed dismantling and removing the aged substation and transmission line equipment at the site.”

The Clare Substation project is part of Powerlink’s $2.9 billion, five-year statewide capital works program – the largest in Australia’s electricity transmission sector.