en.Wedoany.com Reported - Australian grid operator Transgrid has announced that its HumeLink West project has entered a peak construction phase. Conductor stringing work on transmission towers from the Gugaa Substation to the Keajura section is underway, with a small segment near Gregadoo already completed.

HumeLink West is the western section of the AUD 1.5 billion HumeLink project. Located in New South Wales (NSW), it is a national-level power infrastructure project, planning to construct approximately 140 kilometers of 500 kV overhead transmission lines to connect the future Maragle 500 kV substation adjacent to Snowy 2.0, as well as two interface points at Wagga Wagga and Wondalga. The project also includes the construction of over 360 transmission towers, two new substations (Maragle and Gugaa), and the upgrade of a third substation (Wagga Wagga Substation).

Transgrid stated that almost all towers in the Gugaa to Keajura section have been erected, and conductor stringing is currently in progress. Each tower needs to carry 24 conductors, one ground wire, and one fiber optic cable. During stringing, drones or helicopters lift pilot lines to temporary pulley blocks on the tower cross-arms, then ropes are used to pull conductors from one tower to the next. Each conductor cable reel is equipped with a braking mechanism to safely control the release speed and tension.

Starting from July 2026, drones will take off and land at designated tower sites along the transmission line; in steep terrain unsuitable for drone operations, helicopters will be used instead. The entire stringing work is expected to take several months.