Essential Energy teams are already beginning to prepare for the 2024-25 bushfire season by inspecting its powerlines in the New England region where there is a risk of bushfire impacting crucial infrastructure.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With a footprint that covers 737,000 square kilometres across regional, rural and remote NSW and parts of southern Queensland, Essential Energy's network overlaps with some of the highest risk bushfire zones in the State.
Essential Energy's Chief Operating Officer Luke Jenner says that inspecting powerline corridors for defects and undertaking preventative vegetation management work ahead of the bushfire season is critical to the organisation's comprehensive Bushfire Risk Management Plan.
"Managing the risk of bushfires is an important part of keeping the network safe and reliable for the customers and communities served by Essential Energy," Mr Jenner said.
"Essential Energy's Bushfire Risk Management Plan outlines how we proactively manage our network to avoid inadvertently causing a bushfire which could impact our communities.
"It also manages the risk of bushfires impacting our network, which in turn would interrupt power supply to our communities."
Mr Jenner said Essential Energy uses light aircraft low altitude flights for visual inspections of powerlines in high-risk bushfire areas with an aim of spotting and identifying either defects or vegetation.
"[Then] we can address those things prior to the start of the bushfire season," he said.
Essential Energy also use drones, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and satellite technology to assess where vegetation may impact any electrical assets.
A key part of the bushfire management plan is to ensure that vegetation is clear of the powerlines.
"Vegetation poses a number of risks to the network, with the most obvious one being vegetation growing too close to powerlines," Mr Jenner said.
"If vegetation touches the network, it can spark a fire.
The less obvious one is the proximity of trees to the powerlines that can blow over in high winds. So we need to be very diligent to look for dead, dying or diseased trees that could fall onto the powerlines and potentially start a fire."
The plans are outlined in a safety report available on the Essential Energy website. Details around inspection times are also available on the company's website under 'Managing our Network' tab.
