3.30pm Tuesday
Crews have now safely accessed the flooded zone substation in Melbourne’s CBD and begun inspecting and testing equipment.
We are continuing to clean up the site, pumping water from the basement and removing mud and debris.
A specialist team is now testing the first of three transformers and, if successful, we expect to return it to service tomorrow. This will allow us to bring the substation back online and supply power to some customers from the site, while easing demand on other CBD power supplies.
Over the coming days, we will continue inspecting and testing the remaining transformers and other equipment to assess damage and identify any repairs. This will inform the broader restoration plan.
Overnight, we restored power to all customers by redirecting supply to other parts of the network. As a result, some areas are now carrying more demand than usual.
We are asking customers affected by yesterday’s outage to reduce electricity use where they can to help ease pressure on the network. Please avoid using non-essential appliances and delay or minimise the use of dishwashers, washing machines and dryers where possible.
8am Tuesday
Our teams have restored power to all customers after yesterday’s outage caused by flooding.
We redirected power from other parts of the network to bring customers back on supply.
As a result, parts of the local network are now operating differently and are carrying more demand than usual.
To help reduce pressure on the network, we are asking customers affected by yesterday’s outage to minimise electricity use where possible. For example, please avoid using any non-essential appliances and defer or minimise use of dishwashers, washing machines and dryers.
This will help keep the network stable while we inspect and test the site.
Our crews worked through the night to pump water from the zone substation. We expect this to be complete this morning, allowing our teams to safely access the site.
Crews will then inspect three transformers, a switchboard and other equipment for any damage and will carry out any repairs if required.
Specialists will also need to test equipment before we can safely turn power back on to the site.
We thank customers for their patience and understanding.
We will continue to provide updates at citipower.com.au.
7.30pm Monday.
Pump trucks are on site and are removing thousands of litres of water from the zone substation on Little Collins Street.
We’ll continue to work through the evening to remove all the water and will begin damage assessments and any repairs immediately after the water is gone.
We have also made more progress restoring power for customers by switching them to other parts of the network.
As of 7.30pm there are 1270 customers off supply, down from 10,000 earlier this afternoon.
Our teams are working through the night to continue to restore power to more customers and repair damage to equipment as quickly and safely as possible.
We appreciate it’s difficult to be without power for any length of time and we thank all of our customers who may be affected by this outage for their patience.
*For newsrooms: Footage available for download here: https://spaces.hightail.com/space/QyXG3Nfn4x
5.30pm Monday.
A burst pipe has flooded a public car park at 32-60 Little Collins Street, with water entering a zone substation located in the basement of the facility.
For safety, we have turned off power from the site, which supplies about 10,000 customers in the south-eastern sections of Melbourne’s CBD.
We have been able to restore power to more than 4000 customers by redirecting power supply from other parts of the network. There are currently about 5,700 customers off supply in the area.
Our crews are on site and working to remove the water. This will allow safe access to the zone substation so any damage can be assessed.
We will keep customers updated by SMS and on our website on restoration times.
