Western Power has delivered the critical electrical connection enabling Edith Cowan University’s (ECU) new City campus to welcome its first students.
The $853 million transformative City Campus project bringing around 10,000 staff and students into the Perth CBD, required a substantial 7.5MVA electricity connection to support this technology–driven, modern learning environment.
The connection complements ECU City’s expansive 600kW rooftop solar array, one of the key sustainability features of the fully electric campus.
Led by Western Power’s Major Works and Major Capital departments teams from across the business, alongside contractors WA-based company Cabling WA, the project successfully achieved key milestones to energise one of Perth’s most significant educational precincts on schedule.
Acting Head of Major Works, Sriskanthan Nadarajah, said this included advancing the scope of works, securing contractor commitments and formalising agreements in alignment with the project schedule.
“Our major works and telecommunications commissioning teams completed critical ducting, fibre optic cable splicing, and communication systems upgrades,” he said.
“These works enable full automation and real-time network monitoring to help future-proof ECU’s power connection.
“Significant works were also required to replace and upgrade the capacitor bank at the Cook Street Zone Substation to ensure we could supply the required load, alongside advanced protection upgrades and the installation of modern fault indicators and meters to enhance system reliability.”
As part of the project, distribution cable hauling and jointing works were undertaken along Wellington Street, a major traffic thoroughfare in the Perth CBD, with works carefully planned overnight and on weekends to minimise disruption.
“Together, these integrated works formed the backbone of the power supply that supports ECU’s vision for its technology-driven campus,” he said.
“We’re pleased to have accomplished the significant work required for this project. The success of the project was due to the excellent collaboration across our teams and contractors.
Western Power’s energisation of ECU’s City Campus underscores its commitment to supporting WA’s energy and education future through reliable, modern, and scalable electricity infrastructure.