An empty paddock in rural New South Wales has been transformed into a world-class substation as part of Australia’s largest transmission project, EnergyConnect.
The small rural locality of Bundure in the Riverina is home to the new Dinawan substation, which sits at the junction of a new 375km, dual-circuit 330kV transmission line from Buronga and a 160km, dual circuit 500kV transmission line from Wagga Wagga.
The massive transmission project is designed to help deliver new solar and wind generation to consumers.
Related article: Transgrid completes Buronga substation for EnergyConnect
“The nation-critical EnergyConnect project will increase renewable energy sharing between NSW, Victoria and South Australia, putting downward pressure on energy bills and helping Australia meet its net zero targets,” EnergyConnect program director John Burke said.
“The Dinawan substation will integrate new solar and wind generation from the NSW Government’s South West Renewable Energy Zone into the National Electricity Market, delivering more affordable and sustainable electricity to households and businesses.
“The substation will also connect to the proposed new interconnector between NSW and Victoria, VNI West, resulting in greater energy reliability and security for the two states.
“Named after the Wiradjuri people’s word for emu, Dinawan substation is 4ha in size, equivalent to six soccer fields, and home to sophisticated electrical equipment from around the world.
“The remoteness of the location has provided a significant logistical challenge in bringing in hundreds of skilled workers and delivering large-scale materials and heavy machinery to site.
“I am pleased to say that Transgrid and our construction partner Elecnor Australia are finalising construction of the substation. The focus will then move to pre-commissioning works and testing of equipment before energisation.
“Since taking steps to optimise project delivery in the long-term interests of consumers, we have achieved significant progress in construction of EnergyConnect which is now more than 90% complete and on schedule to be finished in 2026.”
Elecnor Australia EnergyConnect project director Felipe Delgado said, “We are proud to be delivering this sophisticated and world-class substation at Dinawan which will play a strategic role in the network.
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“Dinawan substation has been built from the ground up and the scale and engineering complexity of this substation is a testament to the skills of the 250-strong Elecnor workforce who live and work at this greenfield site.
“Elecnor and its delivery partners at the Dinawan substation work across civil, structural, mechanical and electrical disciplines to integrate highly specialised equipment from around the world including synchronous condensers, capacitor banks, and shunt reactors.”
