Grasstree Beach powerline project

The Grasstree Beach community’s power is supplied from the Sarina substation via the Sarina Beach feeder. Grasstree Beach is located at the end of the 18km long powerline, which traverses Cabbage Tree Creek at Campwin Beach boat ramp, and has been subject to strikes from birdlife and marine vessels on trailers. With the supply point at Sarina substation several kilometres away, all power outages from faults or planned work on the Sarina Beach feeder, are experienced by the Grasstree community at the end of the powerline.

Image of the current supply arrangements for the Southern Beaches area

To bolster the electricity supply and improve network performance for the area, the project will involve the construction of a new section of powerline that will connect the township directly to the nearby Louisa Creek substation, improving the reliability and security of the electricity supply at Grasstree Beach.

This upgrade will not only benefit the Grasstree Beach community, these changes will also reduce the load on the Sarina Beach feeder, and provide greater flexibility in the network. Ergon will have options to supply the communities from either the Louisa Creek substation or Sarina Beach substation, improving overall network resilience. So that’s also good news for other communities like Campwin Beach and Sarina Beach

We will construct a new section of overhead 11,000-volt (11kV) high voltage powerline which will connect to the Grasstree 11kV feeder to the north, out of the Louisa Creek Bulk Supply Substation – see the blue section in the below image. Once the new section of powerline is complete, power to the Grasstree community will no longer be supplied via the Sarina Beach 11kV feeder, but through the Grasstree 11kV feeder. This new arrangement is designed to reduce the electricity load on the Sarina Beach feeder and improve the reliability of the supply for the Grasstree community.

The new section of powerline will also connect to the Louisa Creek 11kV feeder to the west, and we will introduce a new switch at the Grasstree boat ramp which will allow us to retain the ability to connect to the Sarina Beach feeder, providing significantly more flexibility to supply power to the local communities.

Image of the planned supply arrangements for Southern Beaches area

Construction of the new section of the Grasstree Beach powerline will commence in April 2024 and is expected to be completed by the end of June 2024. However, preliminary site preparation works including vegetation clearing and trimming will be conducted over November and early December 2023.

Even though there are significant benefits associated with expanding and upgrading the electricity network, the construction of new powerlines can be disruptive to the community. Some of the impacts that may be associated with this type of work include:

• Vegetation clearing and trimming – clearing of vegetation along the new powerline route will be required along sections of Grasstree Beach Road. Fauna spotter-catchers will be used for the safe capture and relocation of any wildlife during this activity.
• Noise, dust, and vibration – there will be some noise and minor dust disturbances, as well as the possibility of localised vibration from construction activities during the construction period.
  Construction traffic – increased vehicles during construction and in the community when we are building the powerline.
• Access and disruptions to traffic – we will have traffic control and speed limitations in place during works to keep our crews and the public safe. This may result in short traffic delays or limited access to some areas during key construction periods.
• Hours of work – work will generally be conducted between the hours of 6am to 6pm, Monday to Sunday.

The project team will keep the community and key stakeholders updated on our activities and any potential impacts of our work via this web page.