TransGrid has published a Project Assessment Draft Report for reinforcing the NSW Southern Shared Network to increase transfer capacity to demand centres (HumeLink).
The Project Assessment Draft Report (PADR) analysis builds on the assessment in the 2018 Integrated System Plan (ISP) prepared by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) that transmission reinforcement provides net benefits, as well as the 2019 AEMO Electricity Statement of Opportunities (ESOO). Its findings are consistent with both of these studies as well as the draft 2020 ISP results recently released by AEMO.
Expanded transmission capacity from southern NSW to major demand centres was listed as a priority in the NSW Transmission Infrastructure Strategy, released in November 2018. 1
The PADR has been prepared as the second formal step in the HumeLink RIT-T process and follows the Project Specification Consultation Report (PSCR) released in June 2019.
The PADR assesses that the 500 kV options between Maragle and Bannaby via Wagga Wagga (i.e., Option 2C and Option 3C2) provide the greatest net benefits of the range of options.
Option 3C is assessed to be the preferred option as it provides additional unquantified benefits over Option 2C due to its topology providing more opportunity for route diversity, translating to potentially greater risk reduction in respect of ‘high impact low probability’ events (such as lightning strikes, bushfires or extreme wind events).
The analysis shows that the preferred option is expected to:
- deliver net benefits of approximately $1.1 billion over the assessment period to 2044/45 (in present value terms);
- lower the aggregate generator fuel costs required to meet demand in the National Electricity Market (NEM);
- reduce the need for new dispatchable generation investment to meet demand going forward;
- avoid capital costs that would otherwise be required associated with enabling greater integration of renewables in the NEM; and
- generate sufficient benefits to recover the project capital costs three years after the option is commissioned.
A copy of the Project Assessment Draft Report can be obtained from TransGrid's website or by emailing regulatory.consultation@transgrid.com.au.
- Summary of TransGrid PADR – Reinforcing the NSW Southern Shared Network to increase transfer capacity to demand centres - HumeLink (1.18 MB, PDF)
TransGrid welcomes written submissions on this PADR. Submissions are due on or before 24 February 2020. Submissions should be emailed to regulatory.consultation@transgrid.com.au.
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2 Option 2C has two lines passing through Wagga Wagga, while Option 3C has one line passing through Wagga Wagga and one directly between Maragle and Bannaby.