General News
5 February, 2025
$50m power renovations
WORK is well underway on a $50 million upgrade of the Mossman electricity substation and other works in the Douglas Shire.
Ergon Energy’s Far North area manager Charlie Casa said the upgrade, which would have long term benefits including a new transformer, control building and other equipment, was designed to support future growth in the area.
“The Mossman substation supplies more than 3300 homes and businesses, so it’s a key piece of community infrastructure and a cornerstone of development that we’re making a significant investment in,” he said.
The Douglas Shire network upgrade includes the installation of overhead fibre-optic cable on the electricity transmission network, establishing critical communication links between three substations at Mossman, Turkinje and Craiglie. The substations supply more than 30,000 customers.
“This upgrade will help us improve fault response and reduce the impact of unplanned outages on our customers in these areas,” Mr Casa said.
“The Douglas Shire network upgrade is a major project with a lot of moving parts, so we’ll be keeping our customers and communities updated with all the details whenever work is locked in,” he said.
“Planned outages are sometimes necessary to give crews safe access to the electricity network and to help them to get the job done more efficiently.”
The Mossman Substation, at the base of the Rex Range (near Shannonvale/Cassowary), is being upgraded from 66/22kV to 132/22kV substation.
“This investment, along with the associated works at Yalkula substation, near Mount Molloy, and at the Craiglie substation, near Port Douglas, will address both power reliability and safety risks associated with the age of the Mossman substation and support the growing the demand for electricity in the area,” Ergon said.
“The substation supplies the Mossman township and surrounding communities through the local 22kV electricity network. It is currently supplied from Turkinje zone substation, near Mareeba, via two 66kV feeder lines that travel to Mount Molloy and then down the Rex Range.
“In the future, it will be supplied by a new connection to the Turkinje zone substation (through the 132kV transmission lines).
“As part of the upgrade, works have been undertaken on these lines, with some work still ongoing.
“As part of the substation upgrade, works have also been undertaken across the local 22kV powerline network, as well as on the area’s associated underground communications networks.”
Ergon is aiming to commission the new works by the middle of the year.
“We are committed to minimising the impact on the community while we manage the transition to the upgraded network,” it said.
“We recognise the community has experienced several major outages over the storm season.
“Once the new arrangements are in place, some sections of the 66kV lines will be removed, between Mount Molloy and Mossman where the line crosses the Rex Range and Wet Tropics area.”
Douglas Shire Mayor Cr Lisa Scomazzon said the council was pleased that Ergon continued to invest in the region’s power network.
“Reducing the frequency of unplanned outages and upgrading infrastructure to improve response times will be welcomed by the entire community,” she said.
Ergon said it always notified affected customers with the details by mail and they could register for free SMS or email outage notifications at
Members of the community can also see more information about the upgrades at
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