We completed a major upgrade to around 108 kilometres of Single Wire Earth Return (SWER) powerlines across some of Victoria’s highest bushfire risk areas: Chum Creek, Clonbinane, Don Valley, Flowerdale, Forbes, Glenburn, Healesville, High Camp, Kilmore, Kilmore, Kilmore East, Launching Place, Moranding, Reedy Creek, Sunday Creek, Toolangi, Tyaak, Willowmavin and Woori Yallock.
The project replaced ageing bare wire powerlines with insulated powerlines, helping reduce bushfire risk and improve electricity network resilience for our communities. This upgrade is part of our ongoing commitment to strengthening Victoria’s electricity network and supplying safer, more reliable energy to high bushfire risk areas.
Why did we do this upgrade?
Many sections of our existing network were built decades ago. The upgrade was designed to:
- improve bushfire safety by replacing bare wire powerlines with insulated powerlines
- reduce the risk of electrical faults starting fires
- improve network resilience and reliability
- replace ageing infrastructure that had reached the end of its service life
- support the network during extreme weather conditions.
Insulated conductors provide an additional layer of protection because they are less likely to create sparks if they come into contact with vegetation or the ground.
