TransGrid's Far North NSW Project will save over 33,000 tonnes of CO2 every year due to increased efficiency of the network.
“Whenever electricity is transported over poles and wires, some energy is always lost,” said Peter McIntyre, General Manager of Network Planning at TransGrid.
“Increasing the voltage of the lines, is one way to significantly reduce these losses,” said Mr McIntyre.
TransGrid's Far North NSW Project involves:
- the construction of a new section of 330,000 Volt transmission line between Bonshaw and Tenterfield
- the replacement of an existing line currently connecting Lismore to Tenterfield. The existing 132,000 Volt line will be replaced with a 330,000 Volt line, providing a large decrease in losses over the line.
“As a result of the higher voltage, the new line will save a significant amount of energy; the equivalent of the electricity consumed in the area of Tenterfield,” said Mr McIntyre.
As a result of the project, the overall transmission network energy losses in NSW will be reduced by approximately 35.5 Giga Watt hours (GWh) over its first year of operation.
“In terms of emissions that's the equivalent of taking around 7,400 cars of the road in NSW, and doing that every year.
“As demand for electricity in the region increases, we will see greater savings in energy as a result of these highly efficient lines. For instance, just six years after operation, the amount of energy saved will be almost double the electricity consumption of Tenterfield at 63 Giga Watt Hours per year,” said Mr McIntyre.
“TransGrid's network currently connects to a large amount of renewable generation in NSW and we are presently progressing applications to connect additional renewable generation to our network.”
TransGrid, being the state's transmission network operator, transports electricity from where it is generated to areas it is most needed, regardless of the method used to generate electricity.
“TransGrid is the vital link for all electricity including renewable energy generators in NSW, we transport electricity generated from sources such as wind and hydro to people's homes every day,” said Mr McIntyre.