❓ Question regarding Western Power's insulator silicone program, its suspension after a safety incident, and potential service disruptions. The Minister's answer provides details on the incident, program review, and inability to predict outage impacts.
AnsweredQoN 796Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to Western Powers Annual Network Safety Performance Objective
reports of 2020 and 2021, and I ask: (a) what
was the incident in January, 2020 that resulted in Western Power pausing its
insulator silicone program; (b) as referred to in the proposed revisions to the access arrangement for
the Western Power Network 2022-23 – 2026-27 – issues paper, can the Minister
confirm that this program is due to re-commence, but only on de-energised lines; (c) does the Minister know, in terms of service disruption to customers,
what increase in planned and unplanned outages will occur as a result of this
program; and (d) if yes to (c), can the Minister table this information?
reports of 2020 and 2021, and I ask: (a) what
was the incident in January, 2020 that resulted in Western Power pausing its
insulator silicone program; (b) as referred to in the proposed revisions to the access arrangement for
the Western Power Network 2022-23 – 2026-27 – issues paper, can the Minister
confirm that this program is due to re-commence, but only on de-energised lines; (c) does the Minister know, in terms of service disruption to customers,
what increase in planned and unplanned outages will occur as a result of this
program; and (d) if yes to (c), can the Minister table this information?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
20 September 2022
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary representing the Minister for Energy
Response time
10 days
(a) Western Power suspended ‘live’ powerline siliconing and washing following a safety incident on 22 January 2020, where an employee was injured when an electrical discharge occurred.
(b) Western Power is reviewing its approach to siliconing and line washing of assets. Western Power completed a pilot program on de-energised lines utilising a helicopter for approximately 60 assets in 2020/21. Western Power intends to conduct a second trial with additional assets by December 2022. The results of these trials will inform future works.
During its review of siliconing and line washing, Western Power increased its work on insulator and cross-arm replacement programs for pole top fire risk mitigation.
(c) It is not possible to predict any increase or decrease in planned or unplanned outages related to pole top fire risk mitigation measures.
(d) Not applicable.
(b) Western Power is reviewing its approach to siliconing and line washing of assets. Western Power completed a pilot program on de-energised lines utilising a helicopter for approximately 60 assets in 2020/21. Western Power intends to conduct a second trial with additional assets by December 2022. The results of these trials will inform future works.
During its review of siliconing and line washing, Western Power increased its work on insulator and cross-arm replacement programs for pole top fire risk mitigation.
(c) It is not possible to predict any increase or decrease in planned or unplanned outages related to pole top fire risk mitigation measures.
(d) Not applicable.
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