Power supply boost for coastal community of Macknade

The coastal community of Macknade in the sugarcane region near Ingham in north Queensland will receive a significant boost to its power supply.

Ergon Energy’s Macknade substation is undergoing a $3 million upgrade.

Minister for Mines and Energy Geoff Wilson said a new control building would be built to house new switching equipment.

He said work would also be carried out on the four 11,000 volt powerlines that supply the Macknade community.

“The upgraded substation will allow Ergon Energy to better manage and monitor the network,” Mr Wilson said.

“And that’s good news for the 1,000 homes and businesses in the Macknade community – they’ll have a more reliable power supply.

Work has started and the project is expected to be finished by June this year.

“The old building will be replaced with a new modular, transportable control building which will hold the new 11,000 volt switchboard, equipment and control panels,” he said.

The current 11,000 volt switchboard is around 50 years old and is nearing the end of its economic life.

“The new system includes a communication link which will allow Ergon Energy to control the substation remotely from the control centre at Garbutt in Townsville.

“It will be the eyes and ears of the network and will boost Ergon Energy’s ability to quickly respond to supply issues in the Macknade community,” Mr Wilson said.

”This is one of the first modular and transportable control buildings to be commissioned in regional Queensland and it will work in well with other control buildings being set up around the state.

The control building will be built in-house at Ergon Energy’s workshop in Brisbane.

“It will be transported to the Macknade substation for on-site testing and commissioning after rigorous factory testing,” Mr Wilson said.

The upgraded substation is expected to be commissioned by June 2007.

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