Powercor is building a 2m-high levee around the Mooroopna zone substation as part of the company’s attempts to reduce the impact of flooding on electricity supplies.
Mooroopna, Tatura, Murchison and large swathes of the region were left without power when flooding breached temporary levees around the substation in October and Powercor de-energised the site to minimise risk to the community and to prevent significant damage.
Temporary flood mitigation measures, including sandbagging, will remain in place at various sites through December and January, with the La Nina weather pattern remaining across the state.
The levees, made from compacted soil and covered with grass to integrate into their natural surrounds, are being built to withstand one-in-200-year flood levels.
Powercor head of major projects Marcus Olive said the combination of short and long-term measures were designed to build more resilience in the power network and reduce the likelihood of flood waters impacting zone substations and causing power outages.
The Mooroopna substation provides power to about 11,000 people across Mooroopna, Tatura, Ardmona, parts of Shepparton, Kialla, Haston, Murchison, Dhurringile, Rushworth and surrounding towns.
It was built in the 1960s, north of Mooroopna.
“Our weather is changing and as we experience more extreme events like the recent floods, it’s critical we are building more resilient power infrastructure to withstand as much as possible the impacts of these events,” Mr Olive said.
“Leading up to the floods, we took proactive steps to protect critical power assets in regions at risk of flooding.
“These steps included building temporary levees, sandbagging, raising equipment and using pumps to keep water out of critical major sites.
“Since then, we have conducted further work to reinforce these measures, including raising the height of some of the levees, to strengthen them against further flooding.
“These temporary structures will remain in place over coming months as we plan and implement medium to long-term flood reduction measures.”
The Castlemaine substation, near Bendigo, will also have a levee constructed around it.