Western Power set to bring trial to Northampton to address power outages in the area

Western Power is looking to bring a trial program to Northampton in the hope to improve regional power reliability. The Regional Connect Program, costing $88 million, aims to target regional areas experiencing power outages frequently on the long feeder lines, to improve reliability. Western Power asset management executive manager Gair Landsborough said Northampton was one of the regions experiencing multiple issues with power. “Lancelin and Northampton have some of the highest number of recurring network faults, challenging environmental conditions, and diverse community needs,” he said. “These areas have been selected as they face complex challenges that impact their reliability and conducting trials in these locations will help establish a blueprint of robust solutions that can be rolled out to other regional locations that experience reliability challenges.” The trial in Lancelin began earlier this year, after community consultation to gather more information and input on how the problems would be solved. Mr Landsborough said the organisation was looking to better understand the issues within regional communities in order to solve the issues. “We understand the inconvenience frequent and prolonged outages can cause regional communities and we’re partnering with them to better understand their felt experience and identify and develop effective alternative solutions,” he said. “Our aim is to develop tailored solutions incorporating social impact, economic and environmental factors, existing network infrastructure and recent causes of power outages.” Lancelin’s trial included a short-term solution, a back-up supply known as the High Voltage Injection Unit. Mr Landsborough said the sessions provided the organisation with identifying different types of solutions. “Collaboration with the community is essential and drop-in sessions provide the opportunity for people to get involved with the Community Partnered Working Groups, which aim to facilitate out of the box thinking and drive innovation,” he said. “We’re working to identify potential medium and long-term solutions that we can explore further with these groups. “We’re also aiming to deliver initial works that will bring a quicker improvement in restoration times and a reduction in the average duration of outages.” Northampton residents were set to speak with Western Power at the community drop-in session on Tuesday.