The Brisbane Valley, South East Queensland, Australia, has received an extra shot of power with Energex recently completing a massive upgrade to the area's electricity grid. More than $4.3 million dollars has been spent upgrading the electricity network in and around the valley with the work designed to deliver a better power supply to the area.
Work included the replacement of many of the local network's aging powerpoles and powerlines as well as installing new safety and power switching equipment at strategic locations. Energex Asset Manager for the Western Area Russell Cross said the upgrades are now providing the area with vastly improved power reliability and capacity.
"The Brisbane Valley and Toogoolawah township areas have grown substantially in recent years and the commercial and domestic growth obviously requires an increase in power capacity," Cross said. "In fact in the past 10 years alone the population of the Somerset Regional Council area has grown by more than 25 per cent with 5,000 more people calling the area home.
"Combined, all aspects of the upgrades improve the local power gird's reliability, safety and capacity allowing for a better electricity supply for now and the future."
Cross also thanked the local community for their patience while the upgrades were taking place.
Energex's capital works program aims to improve and reinforce electricity supplies across South East Queensland, especially to meet peak electricity demand periods, and to support the increased use of residential solar power and lifestyle-enhancing appliances, such as air-conditioners and flat screen televisions.
In a related project, Energex has completed a major Holland Park power upgrade inn Brisbane. More than 7,500 inner-southern Brisbane homes and businesses have a far more reliable power supply after the recent completion of major Energex grid upgrade in the area.
Energex has spent $14.2 million installing new 33-kV underground cables stretching from the Coorparoo substation directly into the Holland Park substation.
The project saw more than 3.5 km of cable installed along the route and now supplies power to Holland Park, Holland Park West, Tarragindi, Coorparoo and Greenslopes.
According to Energex Asset Manager Derek McIntyre the new work reduces the load on aging power cables that used to inject electricity into the area. "Before the completion of this project the Holland Park substation relied on power cables that ran from Moorooka and Tennyson and were more than half a century old," McIntyre said.
"These new cables not only take a substantial load off the existing ones, they also provide another injection point for power into the Holland Park area. This will be particularly useful if an unexpected power interruption occurs, due to a storm for example, because our crews will be able to reroute power and have supply restored much faster. The additional cables will also allow for further domestic and commercial growth in the area ensuring the community's need for power is met now and well into the future,” McIntyre explained.
