Construction work has started on the $2.2 billion power line between South Australia, Victoria and Wagga.
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SA grid operator ElectraNet installed the first transmission poles at Robertstown on Tuesday.
ElectraNet will spend $457.4 million on the section from Robertstown to the border and NSW grid operator Transgrid will spend $1.8 billion on the remaining line to Wagga.
The project will see towers up to 65 metres high carrying 500 kilovolts from Wagga to north of Jerilderie and then 330 kilovolts to Robertstown.
Construction is due to run through this year and 2023 with the Wagga section planned to start receiving power in the middle of 2024.
"The new transmission line will connect South Australia and NSW, allowing for the sharing of energy between the states, ElectraNet interim chief executive Rainer Korte said.
"Its route passes through high quality renewable energy zones, facilitating the transition of more renewable energy into the National Electricity Market."
The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment is currently considering public submissions on Transgrid's environmental impact statement for the Eastern section of EnergyConnect.
The Eastern section runs from Buronga substation across the border from Mildura to and Wagga and includes the construction of a new Dinawan Substation 170 kilometres west of Wagga.
TransGrid has also this week submitted a scoping report for HumeLink, a plan to build transmission lines between the Snowy 2.0 hydroelectric expansion and Wagga that will carry 500 kilovolts via 65-metre-high towers.
TransGrid said the HumeLink scoping report described the project and presented a preliminary assessment of potential impacts from the project that will be assessed in further detail in the environmental impact statement.
TransGrid executive manager of delivery Craig Stallan said the new power line was one of the largest projects proposed since the formation of the National Electricity Market.
"HumeLink will reinforce the backbone of the east coast's transmission network, delivering a cheaper, more reliable and more sustainable grid. It will increase the amount of renewable energy that can be delivered to consumers across the National Electricity Market, helping to facilitate the transition to a low carbon future," he said.
TransGrid expects to place the environmental impact statement on public exhibition in early 2023 and for the NSW Minister for Planning to make a determination on the project in late 2023.
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