Some good news I saw (on Wednesday morning 30th Oct 2024) was that Broken Hill might be reconnected to the wider grid (albeit on the temporary towers for now) as early as this Saturday 2nd November 2024 – via this LinkedIn update from Penny Sharpe, Energy Minister.
Via an update on LinkedIn from NSW Energy Minister, we’ve become aware of this update on the NSW Government website ‘Update on NSW Government response to power outage in Far West NSW’.
ElectraNet are reporting that at least twenty-three transmission towers and six 132kV stobie poles fell down or were damaged during last night’s wild weather.
Given recent events, we’re asking a rhetorical question about how many temporary transmission towers there are currently in Australia?
On Thursday evening 17th October 2024, a significant weather event in South Australia has damaged the high-voltage network in SA Far North (and power supply has been impacted).
ABC Broken Hill has reported that seven transmission towers collapsed south of the town overnight due to strong winds and hail.
Ashleigh Madden of WeatherZone explores how thunderstorms damage transmission and whether a trend of these related weather events exists.
That same reader has helped point out that temporary towers brought the Moorabool Sydenham No2 500 kV line back into service on Wed 6th March 2024 (following No1 line RTS on Sun 25th Feb 2024).
A reader has helped point out that temporary towers brought the Moorabool Sydenham No1 500 kV line back into service on Sun 25th Feb 2024 (with No2 line still out).
In light of another transmission tower collapse caused by convective wind gusts, we’ve invited wind loading expert Dr John Holmes to explain this phenomena.
The sixth transmission tower failure within the NEM in almost four years, has prompted further questions about the physical network and its resilience to severe convective winds.
The Department of Energy* in Victoria confirms that six towers have been downed, on Tuesday 13th February 2024