Ballarat Network Upgrade – Ballarat Base Hospital Redevelopment

The Ballarat Network Upgrade is building more capacity in the electricity network to provide additional connections to support the Ballarat Base Hospital Redevelopment. As well as providing the new connections this upgrade will help us continue delivering electricity to the region with 99.99% reliability.

Crews will conduct work to boost the hospital’s power supply from 2.9MVA to 9.3MVA of capacity, enough to power the new central energy plant and support services building as well as the new multilevel tower which includes a new emergency department, a women and children’s hub, state-of-the-art theatre suite and an extra 100 inpatient and short stay beds.

As well as supporting a larger hospital, the works involve upgrading a back-up line from a separate zone substation, which means the hospital will be able to run at full capacity even if a major outage occurs on one part of the network.

The upgrade will also strengthen the network for homes and businesses in central Ballarat, improving reliability for more than 26,000 customers. By increasing the local capacity of the network, we are ensuring our network continues to grow and support the rise in electrification across the energy sector, as more customers invest in solar, electric vehicles and other electric items.

The work, will involve upgrading existing powerlines, installing new underground cables, replacing switches, and replacing more than 190 poles. The upgrade will provide major benefits to the hospital and the local community.

Works are funded as part of the Victorian Government’s Ballarat Base Hospital redevelopment.

The Project

Works for Stage 1 commenced in January 2023 with completion in November 2023. Stage 2 is currently underway with completion scheduled for mid 2024.

Construction activities will take place across various areas throughout Ballarat as below:

Stage 1

Ballarat CBD, Lake Wendouree, Soldiers Hill, Black Hill, Newington, Delacombe, Ballarat North & the nearby surrounds.

Stage 2

Ballarat North, Black Hill, Soldiers Hill, Ballarat East, Bakery Hill, Ballarat Central & the nearby surrounds.

Construction activities will be staged to minimise disruptions where possible.

What to expect during works

• There will be some planned outages during works. Any customers affected will be notified prior to outages.
• Works will be conducted on existing overhead powerlines and also involve installation of new power poles.
• Underground cable works will require digging of parts of the road and nature strip. As well as the use of underground boring equipment.
• There may be times where we are required to interrupt driveway access to adjacent properties while we complete works. We will work directly with any of the affected customers.
• Traffic controllers and signage will be in place to help motorists, pedestrians and cyclists remain safe in changed road conditions.
• On completion of these works, any disturbed areas will be reinstated.
• The majority of works will be conducted during the day however some night works may be required.
• Some tree trimming around our assets will be required. Tree trimming will occur prior to construction works being conducted. For safe access requirements some additional trimming on the day of works may be required.