A $12 million upgrade of Tully’s Substation is complete, further securing power supply to the North and Far North of Queensland.
Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham told Parliament the project was among millions of dollars in new and improved electrical capital works statewide, supporting thousands of jobs from the Far North to the southern Gold Coast.
“This is our publicly-owned electricity assets at work, assets that belong to the people of Queensland, re-investing in jobs and economic growth for the people of Queensland,” he said.
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The Tully project is part of $232.7 million allocated for capital works in 2018-19 by Queensland’s transmission company Powerlink. Powerlink’s infrastructure investment will support more than 400 jobs.
The Tully upgrade project involved replacing secondary systems and supported up to 28 jobs.
Secondary systems are the control, protection and communications equipment that operate the transmission network. Replacing them is cost-effective because it prolongs the life of the substation and avoided or delays the need for new infrastructure.
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“A significant proportion of Powerlink’s annual capital works is now in connecting new renewable energy projects to the grid, increasing supply and helping Queensland reach its target of 50 per cent renewables by 2030,” Dr Lynham said.
Dr Lynham said the upgrade was among the dozens of projects funded statewide this financial year, including more than $1.5 billion by Ergon and Energex.
