Country Energy’s regional general manager South Eastern, Phillip Green said that construction of the recently announced $3.4 million zone substation has already been completed, effectively doubling the capacity of the area’s power supply to cater for future growth in the area.

“Crews are now working to replace around 15 kilometres of powerlines, more than 100 power poles and associated equipment that feed power from the zone substation to residents and businesses in Harden and surrounds,” Phillip said.

“This $1.8 million investment will see crews further strengthing the electricity network across the area, increasing the capacity of the power supply - we recognise Harden is a growing area and we need to be ready to meet the increased demand for energy that comes with that growth.”

The project will bolster the energy supply to the busy CBD, providing a variety of reliable alternative options to supply electricity both during planned maintenance and in the case of emergency allowing Country Energy crews greater flexibility to manage the network across the area.

“The network that supplies Harden from the new zone substation works like a giant ring of powerlines, where energy can flow both ways around the circle,” Phillip said. “The upgraded lines will give us more options to re-route electricity from different directions around that ring to minimise the impact of unplanned supply interruptions caused by events such as severe weather.

“But the improvement work is not just about ensuring a robust power supply - it’s about making sure that we can meet the demands of the Harden community, which simply makes good business sense.”

Extra crews from Boorowa, Crookwell, Gundagai, Tumut and Yass have been assisting the local Harden team to complete the upgrade as quickly and safely as possible, with completion expected by the end of this financial year.