The Western Power Electricity Network is the largest ‘interconnected’ network in Western Australia. It is called the South West Interconnected System and extends from Kalbarri to Albany along the coastline and also reaches Kalgoorlie to the east.
The network is made up of two main parts - transmission and distribution.
Transmission is the ‘transmitting’ of high-voltage power from various generators (namely power stations and wind farms) to over 140 major substations. Transmission lines enable large amounts of power to be transported efficiently over longer distances. This means the amount of power lost during transportation is minimised.
Western Power transmission lines transmit the following voltages:
The distribution side of the network takes lower-voltage power from substations and ‘distributes’ it to homes and businesses. Power is distributed through a series of interconnected lines that start at a substation and terminate at one nearby. These are called ‘feeders’ and each feeder provides power to an average of 1,237 homes or businesses.
Distribution lines carry lower voltages than transmission lines as they do not have to extend over long distances, but instead distribute power through local communities. Western Power’s distribution network uses the following voltage levels:
Flick a switch and your lights turn on, but for those who have wondered how electricity gets to you, here’s a step-by-step guide that traces the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to your home.
Western Power is responsible for more than 140 substations, 721,000 poles and 1,300 reclosers.
There are many different types of equipment that are used to transport power to your premises. They include poles of various sizes, shapes and construction, domes, cable, insulators, fuses, reclosers, switches, busbars and transformers. We also have an extensive communications system attached to the network, which feeds back information about problems and helps us to locate them.
Page update on 5 September 2006
