We’re replacing six transmission towers along the Sydenham to Moorabool 500kV transmission line near Anakie, south-west of Melbourne. These new towers will replace those that collapsed during the severe weather event in February 2024.
Emergency works were carried out to install temporary towers and re-energise the line.
Construction of the new permanent towers is expected to start in August 2024.
What does this project involve?
Immediately following the collapse of the towers, we designed and began planning for the construction of the new towers.
The new transmission towers have been designed to meet the latest version of the Australian Standard AS7000 ‘Overhead Line Design’ and our specific design standards.
Our delivery partner Zinfra will carry out the replacement works, which will include:
- installing foundations
- installing new towers and conductor wires
- removing the temporary towers
- restoring the project area close to its original state.
Impact of the February storms
A Network Outage Review, led by a panel of independent experts, was commissioned by the Victorian Government regarding the February 2024 storms. In its interim report, the panel noted that:
On the afternoon of 13 February 2024, a significant thunderstorm crossed Victoria causing heavy rainfall and damaging winds. During this storm, Victoria experienced wind gusts of more than 110 kilometres per hour (kms/h) and as high as 150kms/h. The event caused significant damage to trees, buildings and infrastructure including the electricity network.
It was during this storm that the six transmission towers near Anakie collapsed.
We inspected the transmission towers in July 2023 and found them to be in good condition with no overdue maintenance.
There are a number of storm-related reviews and investigations underway, including an investigation by Energy Safe Victoria into the tower collapse. We are assisting with these reviews and investigations and working closely with Energy Safe Victoria.
Local impacts during construction
We’re consulting with landholders who have these towers on their properties and are working with them to minimise impacts to their land, businesses and farming operations throughout the project.
There will be traffic management in the area during the construction period, to protect the safety of our crews and road users.
More information and contact
We’ll continue to post updates on this page as the project progresses.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding the project:
- Call: 0447 283 715 (during business hours)
- Email: majorprojects@ausnetservices.com.au