Big concrete pours set the foundations for major EnergyConnect substation

Construction of one of the biggest substations in the Southern Hemisphere has reached a major milestone with crews working around the clock to build the foundations for some of the world’s largest and most sophisticated heavy duty electrical equipment at Buronga near Mildura.

Transgrid and its construction partner SecureEnergy are building the 700km NSW section of the $1.8 billion EnergyConnect project from Wagga Wagga to the South Australian border, with a connection to Red Cliffs in Victoria.

The night sky at Buronga was lit up overnight as subcontractors Nathan Contractors and Mawsons Concrete & Quarries poured 850 cubic metres of concrete during a complex 11-hour operation.

The team effort saw 15 concrete trucks loaded at Mawsons’ plants at Buronga and Mildura, with about 50 workers involved in the pour for the foundations for two synchronous condensers which will sit at the heart of the new 16ha Buronga substation.

Transgrid Project Director Stephen Troughton said: “We are getting on with the job of building the critical EnergyConnect interconnector which will integrate renewables into the grid and allow energy sharing between NSW, Victoria and South Australia for the first time. The Buronga substation will be one of the largest and most sophisticated in the Southern Hemisphere and act as the main hub for the connection between the three states.

The EnergyConnect project is providing a major boost to businesses and jobs in communities along the 700km project alignment with more than $18 million spent on local suppliers to date including Mawsons Concrete & Quarries and the Garraway Group at Mildura.”

Mawsons Western Operations Manager Concrete Gary Harvey said “the amount of concrete involved was the equivalent of 120 truckloads. It is a real feather in our cap to be involved in such a big project as EnergyConnect and it is a very proud moment for us,” he said.

“We had to supply concrete at a certain temperature which was under 23 degrees, and with the number of trucks involved, it was always going to be a night pour.”

The two 120 MVA synchronous condensers are used for system stability and circuit strength to the grid, playing a key role in moving Australia to cleaner renewable energy.

Mawsons is also supplying concrete for the footings to support towers currently being erected at Buronga, providing a further boost to the local business.

The pour was a great success with Mawsons PEC Project Manager, Trent Cox contacted by the customer to thank him and the team for the excellent service and the consistent pour rate and quality concrete we supplied.

Trent has kindly compiled some figures below regarding the pour:
• First truck loaded at Mildura Concrete Plant at 7:30pm, last truck loaded at 7:06am
• First truck loaded at the Buronga Mobile Concrete Plant at 8:30pm, last truck loaded 6:03am
• First truck arrived on site at 8pm and the last truck left site at 8:15am
• M3 TOTAL – 805m3
• Number of loads TOTAL – 118
• There were four testers on site all night taking cylinders and slumping.

For more information on EnergyConnect visit: https://www.transgrid.com.au/projects-innovation/energyconnect

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