Construction kicks off on major upgrade of transmission links to host renewables and clear path for coal exit

Construction has begun on four key electricity transmission sites in Perth’s northern suburbs as part of the Clean Energy Link – North project, the largest investment in Western Australia’s electricity transmission infrastructure in more than a decade.

The Clean Energy Link – North project will complete major upgrades to the northern section of the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the electricity distribution network servicing WA from Geraldton to Albany and east to Kalgoorlie.

The package of works includes the conversion of 290 kilometres of existing 132 kV transmission line to 330 kV stretching from the Northern Terminal in Malaga to substations at Pinjar, Regans, Cataby, Eneabba, and then Three Springs, as well as a new double circuit transmission line between Eneabba and Eneabba Terminal.

A new 330 kV terminal will also be constructed alongside the existing Regans Substation, with connections to the two 330 kV transmission lines that pass near the site to facilitate the resupply of Regans 132 kV Substation.

The state government announced in July new contracts totalling $342 million for the initial upgrades, part of a larger $584 million 2025-26  state budget commitment for Western Power, the state-owned operator of the electricity network in the southwest corner of the state, to undertake the Clean Energy Link – North program.

It is the first expansion under the state government’s Transmission Plan for the South West Interconnected System (SWIS), the electricity distribution network servicing Western Australia from Geraldton to Albany and east to Kalgoorlie, that paves the way for the addition of renewable energy resources.  

Clean Energy Link – North is expected to make available to SWIS customers around 400 megawatts (MW) of existing wind energy and another 1 gigawatt (GW) of new renewable energy, as well as enable more clean energy generation in the Mid West. The upgrades should double the capacity in some sections of the SWIS.

Among the upgrades being undertaken is the deployment of high-capacity transmission lines, terminals, substations, and transformers intended to help unlock the flow of wind and solar from projects north of Perth, which have been heavily constrained, but which feature some of the best wind and solar conditions in the state.

Some of the first upgrades began construction this week, with state minister for energy and decarbonisation Amber-Jade Sanderson announcing on Tuesday that construction had begun at four key Western Power sites.

“The Clean Energy Link – North expansion is a key power grid upgrade that will help us to exit State-owned coal by 2030 – faster than any other state,” said Amber-Jade Sanderson.

“It lays the groundwork for a secure energy future for WA and marks one of the biggest infrastructure builds undertaken on the network, that will expand network capacity, drive economic growth, and enable the decarbonisation and electrification of existing industries.

“Expanding the SWIS north will unlock more renewable energy resources in the Mid West and strengthen the SWIS as we make Western Australia a renewable energy powerhouse.”

The state government claimed that the Clean Energy Link – North project was currently being delivered on schedule and should be completed by the end of 2027, during which time it will create over 400 jobs.