Editing Broken Hill (section)

===Electric power===
{{Unreferenced section|date=April 2017}}
By the 1920s most of the nine mines on the Line of Lode had their own steam-powered electrical generators to power the surface and underground workings. As Broken Hill is in a desert with little water and virtually no fuel, steam generation was an expensive option. In 1927 a plan for a central power-generating facility was proposed by F. J. Mars, consulting electrical engineer with the Central Mine. The proposed powerhouse would provide electricity and compressed air.
The mines agreed and formed Western New South Wales Electric Power Pty Ltd to construct and operate the plant. The Sulzer diesel-powered plant was completed in 1931. This was one of the earliest examples of the use of diesel power generation in Australia. The plant was enlarged in 1950 to cope with increased demand from the North Mine. At the same time, a new power station run by the Southern Power Corporation (owned by [[Consolidated Zinc]]) was erected near the New Broken Hill Consolidated Mine to provide power to the southern end of the Line of Lode. Both stations were connected to a common grid that serviced the mines on the ''Line of Lode''.

A [[High-voltage direct current|HVDC]] back-to-back station with a maximum transmission rate of 40 megawatts was built at Broken Hill in 1986, to draw from the national grid. It consists of 2 static inverters working with a voltage of 8.33&nbsp;kV. {{asof|2022}}, the line is 220 kV and runs 260 km from [[Buronga, New South Wales|Buronga]], and two 25 MW diesel fuel turbines operate at the substation's 22 kV.<ref name=trg>{{cite web |title=Final stage of Broken Hill's RIT-T Completed |url=https://www.transgrid.com.au/projects-innovation/broken-hill-supply/ |website=Transgrid |language=en |date=May 2022}}</ref> After this line was operational, the two other power stations closed and the equipment was gradually removed from the Central Power Station. The mothballed Southern Power Station, now owned by remnant miner Perilya, still houses five, 9 cylinder, Nordberg marine engines and two Mirrlees V16 marine engines.

In 2010, the Central Power Station (CPS) buildings were handed back to Broken Hill City Council for a proposed re-development as a film studio, due to the perceived need for a facility in Broken Hill by some local people in preparation for the production of ''[[Mad Max: Fury Road]]''. The historic machinery was all removed and presumably scrapped and the giant pits that the motors were housed in were filled with concrete to convert the buildings into a warehouse type layout. The Broken Hill City Council has received considerable funding and spent a large amount of money and resources on establishing a film studio in the buildings but as at late 2014 these buildings remain largely empty and unused as the production of ''Fury Road'' shifted to [[Namibia]], Africa, following higher than expected rainfall.

In October 2024, Broken Hill and its surrounds suffered a major power outage caused by a storm,<ref>{{cite news |work=ABC News |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-31/more-funding-far-west-nsw-workers-affected-by-power-outages-sa/104542294 |access-date=10 January 2025 |archive-date=10 January 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20250110105924/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-31/more-funding-far-west-nsw-workers-affected-by-power-outages-sa/104542294 |title=Income support for Far West NSW workers hit financially by rolling blackouts |first=Grace |last=Atta |date=31 October 2024}}</ref> and changes were made to the local grid.<ref name=agr/>
[[File:Broken Hill solar plant aerial.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the Broken Hill solar plant. Broken Hill receives a high proportion of sunlight, making it suitable for electricity to be generated from solar power.]]