Substation plan reaches final stages

CONSTRUCTION of the Ballarat East Zone Substation by Powercor is set to begin later this year despite pushback from some community members.

Residents in Ballarat East have been campaigning against the location for more than a year and City of Ballarat councillors have advocated for a different site.

Despite community concerns, planning and design for the infrastructure is in the advanced stages with the substation expected to service more than 82,000 homes and businesses in the region.

The first stage of construction will include installing a safety fence and excavation work.

Last week, Powercor representatives met with councillors and officers to discuss the project’s progress and how the company is addressing concerns.

“We are getting on with the job of delivering the zone substation that is essential to providing reliable and safe power to thousands of people across Ballarat and beyond,” said Powercor’s head of network planning, Andrew Dinning.

“We were pleased to provide the council with the facts about this important project and the risks to power reliability and safety if there are delays.”

As part of a $2 million community benefit package, payments of up to $10,000 are available to households within a 100-metre radius of the site for solar panels and direct payments are available for residents next to the project.

Currently 44 residents have signed up for the solar fund and the first direct payment has been made to 17 out of 18 eligible residents.

“We’ve had positive feedback about our voluntary package and a strong take-up of the solar fund,” Mr Dinning said.

“We want to make sure everyone eligible for solar has a chance to apply to the fund, so we have extended the application date until March next year.”

Design options will be released for the substation’s exterior in September and two community information sessions will be held in coming months.

The project is expected to be completed by the summer of 2025 to 2026.