As part of our long-term solutions to improve power reliability, we’ve installed two advanced reclosers on the Benalla to Euroa powerline. Advanced reclosers help us quickly identify faults, which means we can get the power back on faster and reduce the number of people impacted by outages.
From Monday 1 July to Friday 5 July, between 8am and 5pm, we'll be carrying out testing at four sites. This is to test the strength of the line and how quickly the two reclosers can successfully identify a fault. You'll see our crews and vehicles at:
Traffic management will be in place to guide motorists safely around our work sites. We don't expect any outages, but if the power supply is interrupted during testing, our crews will work to get the power back on as soon as possible. Here are some tips to prepare: www.ausnetservices.com.au/outages If you’re a life support customer, please be ready to activate your emergency plan during the testing period.
Once testing is successfully completed, we'll install the remaining six reclosers. They will play an integral part in improving the overall resilience and reliability of the power supply into Euroa and surrounding areas.
While some power outages were caused by extreme weather, another reason is the bushfire mitigation technology installed in Benalla and Violet Town in November 2023.
While this technology helps protect communities from potential bushfires, it also makes the electricity network more sensitive to power outages and it can take longer to get the power back on.
This is because the technology acts like a giant safety switch in the electricity network. When a powerline falls or comes into contact with a tree branch or animal, it cuts the power to the whole powerline. We then need to physically find and clear the fault before turning the power back on. For more information, see Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiter Program under our Completed projects.
For the powerline supplying electricity to Euroa, this can take some time as it spans over 1,200kms. This is the longest line in Victoria with no alternative path for power supply.
In the map below, the blue shows the powerlines that supply the area, with dots marking where the new technology will be installed
Concerns about the reliability of the Benalla to Euroa line were identified earlier this year. Since then, we've committed to putting improvements in place.
Short-term improvements completed:
Long-term improvements:
From June to October 2024, we’ll be in Euroa and Violet Town installing technology to improve power reliability, including:
With these changes, we’re investing more than $10million this year to improve the reliability of the Benalla to Euroa electricity distribution line. This line is also known as BN11. We’ll continue to monitor network performance and work with the community to make sure we’re seeing results. You can read our recent media release here.
We also recognise our impact on the community as part of our obligation to provide a reliable supply of electricity. We’ve paid more than $1.5million in compensation to local customers for outages during the 2023/2024 summer period. If you were impacted during this time, the payment will be automatically credited to your power bill.