Alcoa’s next mission is to remove towers of power over 40km

AN extensive project to remove the transmission line connecting Alcoa’s defunct assets in Geelong and Anglesea will begin this month.

Alcoa said all towers, conductor line and concrete footings along the 40km transmission line from the Point Henry smelter to the former power station would be removed.

The works, which are expected to take 18 months, will begin in Armstrong Creek.

Alcoa has appointed Beon Energy Solution to oversee the five-stage project.

“The first stage will commence this month in Armstrong Creek and we are in the process of contacting affected property owners,” Beon’s project manager Justin Carey said.

“We will work hard to ensure that any potential impacts to property access and traffic flow are minimised.”

Alcoa asset manager Warren Sharp said safety was the highest priority during the removal of the infrastructure.

“Alcoa’s easements will need to remain in place for the duration of the project to enable continued safe access,” he said.

The transmission line was an integral part of the company’s operations for more than 45 years, enabling power generated at Anglesea power station to be used by the smelter.

But after both sites were closed by 2015, Alcoa announced last November that it had decided to remove the transmission line.

The start of the project comes after the demolition of the power station earlier this month after a botched attempt in May.

The schedule for the decommissioning and removal is: ARMSTRONG Creek: Octo- ber 2018 to January 2019; BARWON River -East Geelong: November 2018 to March 2019; EAST Geelong-Point Henry: January 2019 to June 2019; MOUNT Duneed-Freshwater Creek: April 2019 to November 2019; FRESHWATER CreekAnglesea: November 2019 to February 2020.