Kings Forest High Voltage Supply Project

The Kings Forest development is predicted to be one of the largest projects for new housing and employment in the Tweed for the next 25 years. It involves the creation of 5,500 residential housing lots, a community centre with educational facilities and parks.

Essential Energy is responsible for ensuring that the local electricity infrastructure meets the current and future needs for this development. This includes the construction of a new zone substation and underground feeder.

Construction is estimated to commence in late 2024/early 2025 and will involve civil trench works for the underground cable with a focus to minimise impacts on the local community.

Community Update

Community Update.
WHO IS ESSENTIAL ENERGY?

Essential Energy builds, operates and maintains one of Australia’s largest electricity distribution networks, providing a vital service to over 890,000 customers across regional, rural and remote communities.

Our network footprint covers 95 per cent of New South Wales and parts of southern Queensland, traversing 737,000 square kilometres of diverse landscape from the desert to the coast, across alpine to sub-tropical.

WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH THE KINGS FOREST PROJECT?
The King’s Forest Project is progressing through the design phase with geotechnical works, survey and environmental works being completed or in the process of completion. These works have been key to determining the location of the cables within Cudgen, Plantation and Reardons Road reserves.

The main decisions made during the design process are the locations of the cables in the road reserve. The following cable positions have been planned:

Cudgen Rd – Cable located on the eastern side of the road
Plantation Rd – Cable located on the northern side of the road
Reardons Rd – Cable located on the western side of the road.

The excavation for the cable will be a mix of open trenching and under boring techniques. At this stage it will be necessary to under bore the corner of Cudgen Rd and Plantation Rd and a section near the corner of Plantation Rd and Reardons Rd.

There will be a requirement to install two pits, one of these will be to the west of 154 Plantation Rd and the other near the end of Reardons Rd. The size of these pits is approximately 6.3 metres in length by 2.7 metres in width.

HOW ARE THINGS PROGRESSING?

Design and Environmental works are progressing, geotechnical assessments have been completed. Preparation works for construction are occurring with construction works still anticipated to commence in 2024 through to 2025.

WHAT IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS?
We’re keen to work with the community and Essential Energy welcomes any questions you may have.

Reach out to Damain Munday, Land and Route Team Leader on 0428 264 885 or landr.easements@essentialenergy.com.au.

This is what the pit would look like

Jointing pits, also called splice boxes, are intended for enclosing a spliced cable connection. These pits contain waterproof cable joints and are generally placed along straight sections of a cable route. These cable pits must be correctly sized to accommodate the size of the connector and cables running through it.
Essential Energy is using a joint pit to enclose cabling ....
Here you can find the design document for the Join pits.