Hi Butchy,BHP (WMC as it was then) have discussed sale of the...

Hi Butchy,

BHP (WMC as it was then) have discussed sale of the line to Electranet (formally) at least twice, once just after privatisation, and once around three or four years ago when the feasibility for the upgrade to Olympic Dam was being investigated.

I heard about both as we were a potential supplier of services to the mine.

I will leave it at that, if that is OK.

EDL (Energy Developments Ltd) were spruiking an upgrade method they had developed for 132-275 KV in late 01/02, just before after Walter left and before Paul.

It was work they had done for PAWA who wanted to upgrade the EDL line (to Katherine, i think, not sure about detail) and took a standard 132 tower, jacked and bolted in a new lattice square tower on to the old foundations, while at the same time using a live line technique to remove and replace the insulators. Two crews were supposed to be able to do 5 towers each a day, with a separate fabrication and transport operation making the bases.

Not exactly cheap, but way cheaper than a new string of towers.

Someone (Paul?) saw it in the US.

I have heard it discussed in Victoria (by VENCORP) for several heavily loaded lines, but there is always a NIH problem with the transmission companies. EDL is, after all, a Qld company.

Hope this helps.

f111