Western Power is currently exploring a number of options to improve the reliability and security of power supply within the Cities of Melville and Fremantle over the next five to ten years.
Population growth in the community, both residential and commercial, has resulted in a steady increase in the demand for electricity within the region (view map of the area - JPG 2mb). Ultimately, this project will improve the reliability of the power supply to current residents and businesses, whilst also addressing the future needs of the community.
The options that Western Power outlines below are preliminary options and investigations will be ongoing over an extended period of time before a final recommendation can be put forth to the Economic Regulation Authority for approval to proceed with works.
Forecasts currently indicate that a solution is required by around 2016, however we must point out that forecasting so far into the future can sometimes result in unforseen scheduling or load demand changes occurring due to events such as new technologies becoming available, increased demand side management practices being integrated into the community or even unexpected and rapid growth affecting the initial forecasting indicators.
Previously, residents around the existing Myaree substation in Booragoon received information stating that the upgrade of Myaree substation was the only option available to satisfy the current power challenge for the Cities of Melville and Fremantle.
Western Power apologises for this earlier correspondence and confirms now that it is not true. There are multiple options being assessed and the community is invited to register their interest in being a part of the ongoing solution journey for these works.
Some residents have understandably become concerned by the seeming lack of investigation and analysis of possible options and have created a website to outline these concerns – www.myareesubstation.net.
Because Western Power is keen to collaborate with the community and remain transparent in our investigations, we ask that you please take the time to read all of the options outlined below and then share your thoughts with us care of the Western Power project blog: www.youhavethepower.com.au.
As noted above, Western Power is currently involved in preliminary analysis of a variety of options – for the most part these options include upgrading and/or building new substation and power line infrastructure.
To proceed with a solution, Western Power will need to identify a preferred option and then seek approval from the relevant authorities. Below is an overview of the steps:
More information on the solution journey.
Below is a very brief description of the five options currently being investigated by Western Power for this project.
| Option ID | Option description |
|---|---|
| BIC | Establish a new substation at 24 Fifth Street, Bicton. |
| OCM | Establish a new 132kV O'Connor substation opposite the existing substation and on completion, decommissiong the old 66kV one. Convert the existing Myaree substation from 66kkV to 132kV. |
| NOC | Establish a new 132kV substation at O’Connor. |
| NPM | Establish a new substation in Palmyra. |
| DOM | Convert the existing O’Connor substation from 66kV to 132kV. Establish a new 132kV substation at Myaree (at an industrial site) followed by the decommissioning of the existing 66kV Myaree substation. |
In the last months of 2009, we encouraged you to complete an options analysis survey that invited your comment on preferences and decision making criteria, plus invited you to register your ongoing interest for involvement with this project by joining our Community Contact Group.
Members of the Community Contact Group will continue to be directly contacted for all of our upcoming sessions, whilst those of you who didn’t register are invited to watch this website for details of upcoming sessions.
Our next community session is a comments session – this means that we’ll be dedicating the session to listening to you, the community. Your concerns, issues and ideas will be captured by a professional third party facilitator and made available here online afterwards. The session details are:
After the session, your comments will be combined with all the community feedback for this project and reported back to our Western Power technical experts for their consideration. Once our technical experts have reviewed your comments, there will be another session organised towards the middle of 2010 that will provide the community and our technical experts the chance to meet and discuss the project further.
We have now compiled the findings from your surveys into a report – Review survey findings (PDF 178kb).
If you would like to comment on these findings then we would love to hear what you’ve got to say via our blog – www.youhavethepower.com.au. Or else simply come along to the community comments session noted above.
Multiple local media ads were places, along with 4,000 letters sent out to residents within the Cities of Melville and Fremantle, inviting them to our community contact session which was held at Booragoon’s Garden City shopping centre on Thursday 26 November, 2009.
The session provided a face to face opportunity for you all to come and talk with us and discuss the power challenge and current options being investigated.
It was great to meet those of you who attended and we look forward to talking more at our upcoming sessions.
If you filled in our survey and added in your personal details they will be used for the purposes of contacting you regarding this project only.
Western Power is committed to protecting your privacy as an individual. At Western Power your privacy and the confidential management of your personal information is a fundamental part of the way we manage our relationship with you, the customer. We respect the value you assign to your own personal details and recognise that the collection, storage, use and disclosure of your personal details should be handled in a professional manner.
Western Power's privacy policy and the day-to-day application of that policy by Western Power's staff and agents, complies with the Privacy Act 1988 and with Western Power's governing legislation, the Electricity Corporations Act 2005.
For more information please refer to our frequently asked questions (PDF 45kb).
For more information about this project, please contact our Western Power Project Coordinator for these works, Ben Schneider, on 9326 6378 or email him care of ben.schneider@westernpower.com.au.
Page update on 2 February 2010
