For 30 years, Powerlink Queensland has been at the heart of the state’s energy system. During these three decades, we’ve delivered many milestones, each one shaping a safer, more reliable transmission network for Queenslanders.
Our journey began in 1995 when we launched as Powerlink Queensland, ushering in a new era for electricity transmission.
Just a few years later, it was an historic year for Australia’s electricity industry with the National Electricity Market (NEM) commencing in southern and eastern Australia in December 1998.
The early 2000s marked another turning point when construction on Powerlink’s most significant project – the Queensland to New South Wales Interconnector (QNI) transmission line – was commissioned and Queensland was synchronised to the rest of the NEM in 2001.
During this year Powerlink also became the first Australian transmission network service provider to implement live substation work which, together with bare hand live work, minimised customer impacts by reducing outages for maintenance work.
In response to increasing electricity demand, the year 2002 saw construction commence on a second 275kV transmission line between Stanwell Power Station and Broadsound, near Rockhampton. In the same year, Millmerran Power Station, Tarong North Power Station and Swanbank E Power Station were connected to the grid.
Over the years, we have responded to many extreme weather events including Cyclone Larry in 2006, the 2011 Brisbane floods and Tropical Cyclone Debbie in 2017.
We reinforced our commitment to safety with the launch of our ‘Safe For Life’ program in 2013, driving a strong safety culture across the organisation.
The year 2016 saw our teams complete Australia’s largest non-regulated connection project for gas processing facilities in the North-West Surat after earlier connections in South-West Surat.
The energy landscape continued to shift in 2018 as we celebrated the connection of the first large-scale solar farm and first wind farm to Queensland’s electricity grid.
As electricity demand records continued to grow over the years, we look back on the 1995 peak of 4,853MW to marvel at the 11,144MW peak demand we experienced in 2025. With every new challenge, we have adapted and innovated.
Throughout the years, our commitment to communities has continued to grow. We have invested in the communities we operate through various sponsorships, grants programs and partnerships that support local groups and drive positive change across Queensland.
One of our proudest partnerships is with Energex and Ergon Network (part of Energy Queensland) to support SES volunteers through our ‘Energising Queensland SES’ equipment sponsorship program. Over the course of this ten-year partnership, $1.5 million has been contributed to the SES, benefiting the more than 5,000 volunteers who dedicate their time to helping Queensland communities.
Our achievements over the past 30 years reflects the dedication of our people, our commitment to communities, and our drive to maintain a safe, reliable and cost-effective transmission network for Queensland.
