| Type | State government owned |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Electricity Commission of New South Wales |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Area served | New South Wales |
| Services | Electric power transmission |
| Owner(s) | Government of New South Wales |
| Website | www.transgrid.com.au |
TransGrid is the owner and operator of the high voltage electricity transmission network in the Australian state of New South Wales. It is a state owned corporation, owned by the Government of New South Wales and was established after the break-up of the Electricity Commission of New South Wales into power generation and distribution units in preparation for the national electricity market.[1] Essentially, TransGrid connects generators of electricity to retail distributors, and allows for the national trading of electricity. It forms the backbone of Australia's electricity network. It is part of the portfolio of the Minister for Energy. Its two shareholders are the NSW Treasurer and Finance Minister. TransGrid is the registered business name of the Electricity Transmission Authority.
TransGrid's network stretches along the east coast of Australia from Queensland to Victoria, then inland to Broken Hill, making it the backbone of the Australia's National Electricity Market (NEM). It connects major generation sources in NSW's Central Coast, the Hunter Valley, Lithgow area and Snowy Mountains, and is interconnected with the Victorian and Queensland networks. TransGrid's network also connects to 4 distribution businesses (Endeavour Energy, Ausgrid, ActewAGL, and Essential Energy) and 3 directly connected industrial customers (coal mines, aluminium smelters, rail transport).
TransGrid operates 12492 circuit km of transmission lines and cables, with nominal voltages of 500 kV, 330 kV, 220 kV, 132 kV and 66 kV. Further, it operates and maintains 91 substations which include 175 transformers providing 45,587 MVA of installed capacity throughout New South Wales.
The New South Wales transmission network facilitates inter-state electricity trading and plays a central in the NEM as a result of both its geographic location and the flexible generation plants located in New South Wales. At times of high demand, Queensland and Victoria can rely on imports from New South Wales, and export power to New South Wales at other times.
TransGrid participates in the Australian Energy Regulator's (AER) Revenue Cap Process, where a series of submissions between the Transmission Network Service Providers (TNSP), the AER and other interested parties are used to set the Maximum Allowable Revenue (MAR) for the TNSP for a five year period.
TransGrid will set its new MAR shortly for the 2009 - 2014 period. As much of the reveune is set by automatic factors (prevailing interest rates and consumer price index rates, by example) TransGrid will be expected to see a reduction in its revenue due to the lower interest rates caused by the global economic slowdown. Approximately 60% of TransGrid's revenues are linked to interest rates ensuring the record profit set in 2007 - 2008 of A$200 million will probably stand for some time to come.[2]
TNSP Electricity Regulatory Report 2006/07 - Australian Energy Regulator.
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