Deer Park Terminal Station

The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) were looking to develop a terminal station near Melbourne CBD. The AEMO, whose mission is to ‘design and operate a sustainable energy system that provides affordable, safe and reliable energy for all Australians,’ recognised the need for change within the traditional approach to building network assets. Wanting faster execution, more customer focus and choice in the market to work towards this mission, AEMO engaged us to work on the terminal station.

LUMEA’s development of a 220/66kV terminal station at Deer Park was the first competitive win by a non-incumbent in Victoria. An important milestone for the business, Lumea agreed to the challenge of shifting to a faster, more customer focused approach that would add more choice to the market and better outcomes for consumers. Lumea designed, built, coordinated and now maintains the terminal station. The project included high voltage plant procurement, planning, permits and council and environmental approvals.

Deer Park Terminal Station now plays an important role in the energy market as it delivers better energy supply reliability, and increases capacity to meet the growing commercial demand for new, renewable energy in Australia’s transition to clean energy future.

The regulatory complexity as well as the high number of contractors and stakeholders posed a significant challenge. Working outside of LUMEA’s legacy state jurisdiction in Victoria meant navigating a different regulatory system and working with differing specifications and quality standards. The large amount of contractors included two constructing parties and twenty three contracting parties, as well as a number of other key state-based stakeholders.

A critical part to the success of the Deer Park Terminal Station project was LUMEA's ability to adapt and function in a business as unusual context. Shifting out of the typical way high voltage connections projects have always been done by implementing faster and dynamic ways of working, as well as a commercially savvy approach to contractual agreements, and early and consistent collaboration with key stakeholders from the project exploration phase to its delivery, and now O&M, enabled LUMEA to deliver an outcome that aligns to the AEMO’s mission. The project was delivered on time and under budget.