Ergon Energy plans to restore power in Ingham, crews access Paluma after landslide

Ergon Energy has revealed how they plan to restore power to 1600 customers by tonight in mammoth bid to return to normalcy in flooded NQ town.

Ergon Energy crews work to restore power around Ingham. Picture: Supplied.

Ergon Energy has established plans this morning to restore power for 1600 customers in Ingham by tonight, after efforts to gain access to failing substations.

Emergency crews have been trying to restore the sections of their network in Ingham, Paluma and Lucinda that have been taken out by significant rainfall.

Ergon Energy’s emergency manager Kevin Lavender said the crew had hoped to achieve this by 10pm Monday.

However, it was deemed unsafe to restore power to Paluma tonight.

“We’ve currently got around 130/140 crews on the ground today and that’s Ingham and surrounds,” Mr Lavender said.

“We are restoring supply as we speak, so Ingham has just had another 40-odd customers go back on in the past 15 minutes.

“The risks associated with restoring supply now is purely access related. If we can get safe access, then we will be restoring supply.”

Ergon crews say sections of power poles and wires were wiped out by a landslide in the Mount Spec/Paluma area. Picture: Ergon

Crews are also assessing the road to Paluma which experienced a landslide on Sunday, wiping out vital sections of Ergon’s network.

Video from Ergon’s fault finding crew shows part of the road to Paluma still has a significant volume of water running over it.

Ergon said it was continuing to explore options for Paluma.

It was able to restore power to Mutarnee and Crystal Creek by isolating a section of network damaged by a landside.

“We’ve got crews heading to site now to make safe and we’ve actually got crews who flew in via helicopter into Hidden Valley and they’re located on the ground in Paluma at the moment to do some network inspections for us,” Mr Lavender said.

“We are expecting that we should be able to get some form of supply available today so we’ve got contingencies in place from a network supply or generation supply up to Paluma.”

These efforts are being completed alongside plans to handle the next two days of expected severe weather.

“In the emergency management team, we’re working with BOM (Bureau of Meteorology) and getting regular updates to make sure that we fully understand what the weather situation is at all points,” Mr Lavender said.

The Ingham substation was flooded last week. Picture: Ergon Energy

Ergon has made evacuation plans for their own employees who are working within the zone, and are keeping track of any intel that could compromise the safety of the network, public or employees.

Mr Lavender said to contact Ergon if your house doesn’t have power but your neighbours do.

If your house has been inundated with fluid water, you will need to have a licensed electrical contractor inspect and test your installation so Ergon can safely re-energise your property.

Landslide wipes out power poles as rain delays Ergon’s efforts

A massive landslide has wiped out vital infrastructure connecting power to Paluma, with challenging weather further delaying efforts to restore electricity to residents in the area.

As of Sunday, 2,700 customers across North Queensland remained without power, with Ergon crews facing difficulties due to overnight flooding and poor flying conditions reducing the number of workers on the ground.

A damage assessment team managed to fly over some sections of the network supplying Paluma on Sunday.

They located power poles and wires in the area that had been destroyed by a landslide.

Trees have also fallen over powerlines on the 11,000-volt feeder line supplying Paluma.

However, low cloud cover prevented Ergon from further assessing damage in remaining network areas from Crystal Creek up to Paluma.

Crews will need to rebuild the damaged section of the network in a challenging location and are working on the logistics of bringing in generators to support the community while repairs are underway.

Meanwhile, in Hinchinbrook, Ergon crews have made good progress in Lannercost, Bambaroo, and Mutarnee, working to restore as many customers as possible by Sunday night.

However, access to Macknade remains blocked due to flooding.

Restoration efforts will continue where it is safe, though severe weather has significantly impacted the target of restoring power by 10pm Sunday for some customers.

General Manager Field Delivery Chris Hooper expressed gratitude for the community’s patience and support during this difficult time.

“I think the community can see the devastation and most people are realistic in terms of the constraints we are facing to get the power back on,” he said.

“We have thrown everything we could at this restoration effort to get troops and equipment on the ground by air, barge, road and rail.

“Crews are doing the hard yards today, but they are determined to get the lights back on tonight, even in areas that are providing more difficult to access, like Paluma.

“In areas where it will take longer to restore network supply, like Helens Hill, we will be bringing in generation to support customers while repairs are in progress.”

Restoration time frames will be updated on Ergon’s website based on weather conditions, safe access to sites, damage assessment and the extent of repairs required.

Originally published as Ergon Energy plans to restore power in Ingham, crews access Paluma after landslide