❓ A WA parliamentary question seeks information regarding a recent severe weather event that caused power outages, comparing it to Cyclone Seroja. The Minister's response details the extent of damage, restoration efforts, and costs associated with both events.
AnsweredQoN 1965Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the severe weather event that left more than 30,000 properties without power, and I ask: (a) noting the Minister's comments that the event caused more damage to the network than Severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja, on what basis did the Minister make such a claim; (b) were the transmission towers rated to 260km/h, as claimed by the Hon. Darren West in the Legislative Council on 14 March 2024, and if so, what was the wind speed recorded in the vicinity at the time of the damage; (c) how many transmission towers were lost and how many were damaged arising from the event; (d) what was the cost related to replace or repair transmission towers arising from the event; (e) noting claims that power restoration took ten days from this recent event, how does this compare to the weeks and months that resulted for repairs following Severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja; and (f) if the damage caused by Severe Tropical Cyclone Seroja was less than the recent severe weather event, why did repairs take disproportionately longer?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
16 April 2024
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Energy
Response time
4 days
(a) Following Cyclone Seroja the peak number of customers without power was 31,500; storm-related outages during the period in question affected 34,000 customers at the peak.
(b) The design of transmission towers considers both wind speeds on the wires and on the towers themselves. The standards relevant at the time of construction for the 220 kilovolt (kV) line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder (in 1983) required that wires be designed for wind conditions of approximately 131 km/hr and the towers of approximately 190 km/hour (on average). However as these standards employ different safety factors for applied loads and strength capacities, wind loads and speeds are not directly comparable.
Testing in 1987 and re-evaluation in 1996 concluded that the transmission towers were compliant with the relevant requirements.
Radar images provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) indicate that the supercell thunderstorm was active in the Wheatbelt in the afternoon and evening of 17 January 2024, and passed over the SWIS between Merredin and Kondinin between 16:00 and 19:00that day, however the speed of the wind at the location in question at the time of the event is not known.
(c) 5 transmission towers on the 220kV line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder collapsed.
(d) Based on the information available at this time, the estimated costs related to the recovery of the 220kV line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder is approximately $5.5 million.
(e-f) The geographical spread and extent of damage to Western Power infrastructure was very different for the two events. Cyclone Seroja, caused damage over a 700km x 150km area, impacting 20% of the Western Power network. 1250 hazards were identified and fixed; 200km of conductor was repaired or replaced and more than 3800 poles repaired or replaced. Recovery time was 74 days.
Damage from the supercell storm in January 2024 resulted in the 220kV transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie-Boulder sustaining significant damage with five large transmission towers collapsing. The recovery area was a 2.5km work site and Western Power successfully re-energised the line in nine days with 12, 32-meter-high steel poles installed in place of the five damaged towers.
(b) The design of transmission towers considers both wind speeds on the wires and on the towers themselves. The standards relevant at the time of construction for the 220 kilovolt (kV) line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder (in 1983) required that wires be designed for wind conditions of approximately 131 km/hr and the towers of approximately 190 km/hour (on average). However as these standards employ different safety factors for applied loads and strength capacities, wind loads and speeds are not directly comparable.
Testing in 1987 and re-evaluation in 1996 concluded that the transmission towers were compliant with the relevant requirements.
Radar images provided by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) indicate that the supercell thunderstorm was active in the Wheatbelt in the afternoon and evening of 17 January 2024, and passed over the SWIS between Merredin and Kondinin between 16:00 and 19:00that day, however the speed of the wind at the location in question at the time of the event is not known.
(c) 5 transmission towers on the 220kV line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder collapsed.
(d) Based on the information available at this time, the estimated costs related to the recovery of the 220kV line to Kalgoorlie-Boulder is approximately $5.5 million.
(e-f) The geographical spread and extent of damage to Western Power infrastructure was very different for the two events. Cyclone Seroja, caused damage over a 700km x 150km area, impacting 20% of the Western Power network. 1250 hazards were identified and fixed; 200km of conductor was repaired or replaced and more than 3800 poles repaired or replaced. Recovery time was 74 days.
Damage from the supercell storm in January 2024 resulted in the 220kV transmission line that supplies Kalgoorlie-Boulder sustaining significant damage with five large transmission towers collapsing. The recovery area was a 2.5km work site and Western Power successfully re-energised the line in nine days with 12, 32-meter-high steel poles installed in place of the five damaged towers.
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