Lidcombe to Sydney Olympic Park cable project

Some of the electrical equipment at our substation in Carter Street in Lidcombe is nearing the end of its service life and needs to be taken out of service to improve reliability and minimise ongoing maintenance costs.

Before this can happen, the associated power supply needs to be transferred to our Olympic Park substation on the corner of Australia Avenue and Bennelong Parkway in Sydney Olympic Park. The new 11,000 volt underground cable will facilitate this.   

There are a number of considerations to factor in while planning cable routes. These include:

• cost (minimising the impact on electricity bills)
• minimising community and traffic impacts
• avoiding existing utility services in roads
• ground conditions
• environmental and heritage impacts
• public health and safety
• technical feasibility.

Ausgrid is the approving authority for these works under the NSW Environmental Planning & Assessment Act. As part of the approval process, we have prepared an environmental assessment for this project to investigate the potential environmental impacts associated with construction, operation and maintenance of the new cables.

Work to install the new underground cables in between our substations in Carter Street, Lidcombe and Bennelong Parkway in Sydney Olympic Park is now finished.  

The temporary restoration of areas impacted by the construction work is complete. Permanent restoration work will be done in the coming months, in consultation with the Sydney Olympic Park Authority.

Ausgrid began engaging with the Sydney Olympic Park Authority and the City of Parramatta Council about the project in late 2017.

Engagement with residents and businesses located along and around the cable route started in April 2018 with the distribution of the first newsletter about the project. A second newsletter about the approval of the project and the start of construction was distributed in late November 2018. A copy of the newsletters can be found in the related documents section below.

We will continue to engage with the community and stakeholders during each stage of the project. Ausgrid welcomes questions or comments about the project at any time.

Work to install new cables in streets in Lidcombe and Sydney Olympic Park is now complete.  This involved:

• digging trenches, approximately 1 metre wide, to lay conduits (plastic pipes) to hold the new cables
• filling trenches and resurfacing the area temporarily
• excavating underground joint pits and communication pits at various locations along the route to feed in and join sections of cables together
• Permanently restoring of all impacted areas.
  
  

The temporary restoration of areas impacted by construction is complete.  We are currently consulting with the Sydney Olympic Park Authority about the permanent restoration.  

We will continue to engage with the community and key stakeholders as we progress.