Power boost for the heart of inland sea

Electricity supply to Richmond will be boosted with a $1.5 million project installing new state-the-art equipment at the town’s substation, Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said today.

In Richmond for a Ministerial Regional Community Forum, Mr Wilson said a reactive compensator would be installed at Ergon Energy’s Richmond substation to stabilise voltage and reduce fluctuations in power supply.

“Richmond and other north western communities are supplied with power from the coast via a long transmission line,” Mr Wilson said.

“Pushing power over long distances can result in voltage fluctuations, impacting the quality of electricity supply.

“The new reactive compensator will stabilise the voltage coming into the substation from the coast and exiting to our customers in Richmond and surrounding areas.”

The Richmond substation supplies power to 1133 customers in the town and surrounding rural properties.

Power to the substation is supplied via 66,000 volt powerlines from the Ross substation near Townsville. From there, powerlines carry the power to Charters Towers, Hughenden, Richmond and Julia Creek.

Mr Wilson said a similar voltage stabilisation project was undertaken successfully in Hughenden in May last year as part of a project to improve voltage in Mid West communities.

Member for Mount Isa Betty Kiernan said maintaining infrastructure was vital to sustaining remote regions of North West Queensland.

“By upgrading electricity supplies to our communities, we are supporting further economic and social growth in these regions,” Mrs Kiernan said.

“It’s about keeping people and jobs in our smaller communities and helping to ensure we maintain that unique lifestyle we enjoy in the North West.”

Mr Wilson said the project would significantly improve the overall quality of power supply to Richmond by reducing the visible signs of dips on the system and potential voltage problems.

“Installing voltage stabilising technology will reduce the impact of those dips and customers will only likely see a small flicker,” he said.

“Having a reliable electricity supply is important to all of us, and this project is another example of Ergon Energy putting to good use its $83 million capital works spend for 2007-2008 in regional communities.”

Site construction work on the project is expected to commence in the second quarter of next year.

Media Inquiries: Caroline Kaurila 3224 7332