Construction has started on four key Western Power sites as part of the Clean Energy Link—North project, the largest investment in Western Australia’s electricity transmission infrastructure in more than a decade.
The project includes building and upgrading high-capacity transmission lines, terminals, substations, and transformers along a 354km corridor from Western Power’s Northern Terminal in Malaga to Three Springs.
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The upgrade will double the capacity in some sections of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the electricity distribution network servicing Western Australia from Geraldton to Albany and east to Kalgoorlie, expanding the network’s capacity to connect, transport, and deliver more renewable energy.
It is the first expansion under the SWIS Transmission Plan, the state government’s blueprint for the backbone that will support Western Australia becoming a renewable energy powerhouse.
Planning is also underway for Clean Energy Link—East, to expand the transmission network east of Collie.
Clean Energy Link—North will make around 400MW of existing wind and another one gigawatt of new renewable energy available to customers across the SWIS and enable more clean energy generation in the Mid West.
The project is scheduled to be delivered by the end of 2027.
WA Energy and Decarbonisation Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said, “The Clean Energy Link—North expansion is a key power grid upgrade that will help us to exit state-owned coal by 2030—faster than any other state.
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“It lays the groundwork for a secure energy future for WA and marks one of the biggest infrastructure builds undertaken on the network, that will expand network capacity, drive economic growth, and enable the decarbonisation and electrification of existing industries.
“Expanding the SWIS north will unlock more renewable energy resources in the Mid West and strengthen the SWIS as we make Western Australia a renewable energy powerhouse.”
