{"id":12399,"date":"2025-09-06T13:50:40","date_gmt":"2025-09-06T17:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/?p=12399"},"modified":"2026-06-29T10:52:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T14:52:26","slug":"a-new-grid-is-born-1000-km-of-lines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/a-new-grid-is-born-1000-km-of-lines\/12399\/","title":{"rendered":"Australia&#8217;s CopperString project will connect 1,000 km of power lines from North West Queensland to the national grid"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Within the central and south Pacific Ocean is a vast geographical region with the greatest stretch of sea in the world. The region features the biggest coral reef in the world, called the Great Barrier Reef, and is home to unique wildlife like monotremes. Soon, Australia will see <strong>the birth of a new grid<\/strong>, which will comprise nearly 1,000 km of lines aimed at reducing reliance on gas. This is extremely important news for a major part of the region&#8217;s economy, especially regarding its stockpiles and energy security.<\/p>\n<h2>The region that will be seeing a great change in its power<\/h2>\n<p>A region that comprises vast stretches of sea and thousands of islands has <strong>primarily relied on importing<\/strong> petrol and gas due to the decline in domestic crude oil generation and insufficiency to meet demands. According to Cruise Hive, the region&#8217;s existing infrastructure, such as transportation and power generation, is heavily dependent on petrol and gas.<\/p>\n<p>Its reliance on the international supply chains for refined petroleum production is thus of utmost importance. According to PFTAC (Pacific Financial Technical Assistance Centre), the reliance on these imports has the following <strong>disadvantages for its economy,<\/strong> especially the island nations:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Increased inflation and cost of living<\/li>\n<li>Straining foreign reserves<\/li>\n<li>Energy supply chain instability<\/li>\n<li>Economic growth, trade balances, and government budget instability<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This is why the region will be getting a new grid with the hopes of addressing some of these economic disadvantages and possibly giving birth to <strong>more sustainable power<\/strong> in the future.<\/p>\n<h2>The birth of a new grid and sustainable power<\/h2>\n<p>A project called CopperString will be integrating a new grid into North and North West Queensland, Australia. According to Ministerial Infrastructure Designation approvals and project documentation, <strong>the purpose of the CopperString project<\/strong> is primarily to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Enable new industries<\/li>\n<li>Power the region&#8217;s critical minerals<\/li>\n<li>Power the region&#8217;s green hydrogen potential<\/li>\n<li>Integrate large-scale renewable energy sources<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The latter could be useful for the region, considering <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/australia-mother-of-all-energy-plants\/6237\/\">Australia&#8217;s unveiling of the &#8216;mother of all energy plants.&#8217;<\/a> The project will be managed by a partnership between Powerlink and the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC). Nearly 1,000 kilometres of <strong>high-voltage overhead electricity transmission lines<\/strong> will <a href=\"https:\/\/www.powerlink.com.au\/projects\/copperstring\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">connect the North West Minerals Province to the national power market<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Powerlink&#8217;s official project page, CopperString has the following <strong>key features<\/strong>:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>up to six new substation sites<\/li>\n<li>ancillary infrastructure, such as worker accommodation camps<\/li>\n<li>220kV transmission line from Cloncurry to Mount Isa<\/li>\n<li>330kV transmission line from Hughenden to Cloncurry<\/li>\n<li>330 kilovolt (kV) transmission line from Reid River near Townsville to Hughenden<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Benefits of the project that go beyond power supply<\/h2>\n<p>Powerlink has highlighted its<strong> commitment to transparency<\/strong> in the project progress and operations for landholders, local communities, and other stakeholders where the infrastructure is being developed. The project also has a community legacy investment approach that will benefit communities.<\/p>\n<h3>Sustainable communities<\/h3>\n<p>Supporting community resilience, social capacity, and the environment by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Supporting communities facing vulnerable circumstances<\/li>\n<li>Creating a positive legacy<\/li>\n<li>Protecting the environment<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Economic Development<\/h3>\n<p>Focusing on areas of local purchasing, skills and training, and employment by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Assisting in economic development<\/li>\n<li>Building resilience<\/li>\n<li>Supporting locals facing vulnerable circumstances<\/li>\n<li>Creating a positive legacy<\/li>\n<li>Investing in skills development in local communities<\/li>\n<li>Growing their regions<\/li>\n<li>Supporting job opportunity growth<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The CopperString project has the potential to open new doors to numerous renewable opportunities for North and North West Queensland, as fossil fuels could potentially become less of an interest. As the power demands continue to rise across the globe, the project will surely help the region to <strong>secure a stronger socio-economic stance and energy security<\/strong>, especially as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/china-declares-silent-war-on-america-7\/8061\/\">China and the U.S. continue to wage a silent war<\/a> that undoubtedly has started to affect the rest of the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Within the central and south Pacific Ocean is a vast geographical region with the greatest stretch of sea in the world. The region features the biggest coral reef in the world, called the Great Barrier Reef, and is home to unique wildlife like monotremes. Soon, Australia will see the birth of a new grid, which &#8230; <a title=\"Australia&#8217;s CopperString project will connect 1,000 km of power lines from North West Queensland to the national grid\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/a-new-grid-is-born-1000-km-of-lines\/12399\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Australia&#8217;s CopperString project will connect 1,000 km of power lines from North West Queensland to the national grid\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":12400,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_focus_keyword":"new grid,oceania,copperstring","rank_math_title":"","rank_math_description":"A vast geographical region with the greatest stretch of sea in the world will soon see the birth of a new grid which will comprise 1,000 km of lines.","footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12399"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12399\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ecoportal.net\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}