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MAJOR NETWORK UPGRADE
SHORES UP MELBOURNE’S
ELECTRICITY SUPPLY CitiPower and Powercor own and operate two of Australia’s largest electricity networks, supplying power to over 1.1 million Victorian households – including customers in Melbourne’s CBD and inner suburbs. Daly’s Constructions was recently involved in one of the most complex underground cable installation projects the Melbourne CBD has ever seen, working with CitiPower and Powercor to upgrade the city’s network as part of a major $250 million project involving Waratah Place Zone Substation.
Waratah Place ZSS basement with newly installed cables
A new joint bay being built around existing 66kV oil-filled cables (cut & capped) to connect onto new XLPE cables at Russell St.
T
he Waratah Place Zone Substation project ensures that the network has a ‘double backup’ to withstand multiple outages and provide continuous supply to homes and businesses if unexpected events occur on major supply lines, such as extreme weather, fires, traffic accidents or infrastructure failures.
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UTILITY • AUGUST 2021
The rebuilt Waratah Place Zone Substation (WP ZSS) is the centrepiece of this project, which allows power to be diverted around the grid so the duration of a major power outage is limited to no more than 30 minutes. Powercor Network Services, on behalf of CitiPower, engaged Daly’s Constructions to design and construct ten new 66kV underground cable circuits for the new WP ZSS. These new circuits connect WP ZSS with five other substations in the CBD and nearby area, and ultimately serve to connect Waratah Place Substation to the three terminal stations that supply the Melbourne CBD: Richmond Terminal Station (RTS), Brunswick Terminal Station (BTS) and West Melbourne Terminal Station (WMTS). This was achieved by diverting existing 66kV underground cables from various locations in the CBD to WP ZSS. New 66kV cables were jointed to existing cables at various locations along the busy Exhibition, Lonsdale, Russell and Little Bourke Streets, and at Waratah Place. The scope of the works included: • Detailed design of the cable systems including civil, electrical, hydraulic (oil-filled cables) and temporary works • Installation of 10.5km of single core 66kV copper cables and 3.5km-long cable trenches through the Melbourne CBD WWW.UTILITYMAGAZINE.COM.AU
