Accelerating the transformation of the power grid has become the main mission for Brett Redman as he races to build out the network in NSW to cope with what he says is a rate of change in the energy mix that was “possibly unimaginable” just five years ago.

The former AGL Energy CEO, who now heads up NSW’s TransGrid, acknowledges he has a “massive mission” on his hands to both run reliably the existing grid of the country’s biggest power transmission owner, and deliver all the new lines with the speed required by the shift to renewable energy and at a cost that avoids driving up power bills.