The government of the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) has approved the start of work on the second phase (eastern section) of the EnergyConnect transmission project. The 330 kV, 800 MW project is worth AUD1.8bn (US$1.2bn). The transmission line will run for a total of 900 km and connect three Australian states (NSW, South Australia and Victoria). The 540 km eastern section runs from Wagga Wagga to Buronga (NSW). The 135 km western section, which was approved in late 2021, runs from Buronga to Chowilla (South Australia). The project is expected to be operational in 2024.
In 2022, TransGrid, which operates the transmission network in NSW, had 12,900 km of high voltage lines. AusNet, the transmission network service provider in Victoria had 6,500 km and Electranet for South Australia had 5,600 km of transmission lines.