engineering

Murraylink

Murraylink is a engineering topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Murraylink rather than just read about it. In short: Murraylink is an Australian high voltage direct current electricity transmission link between Berri, South Australia and Red Cliffs, Victoria, connecting the two state electricity grids. Murraylink was commissioned in 2002 and is believed to be the world's longest underground transmission system and cost more than A$177 million.

Key takeaways

Murraylink belongs to engineering; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Murraylink to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Murraylink from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Murraylink is an Australian high voltage direct current electricity transmission link between Berri, South Australia and Red Cliffs, Victoria, connecting the two state electricity grids. Murraylink was commissioned in 2002 and is believed to be the world's longest underground transmission system and cost more than A$177 million. It was built by TransEnergie Australia, a subsidiary of Hydro-Québec. It was sold to the APA Group in March 2006 for A$153 million. In December 2008 ownership of Murraylink (as well as Directlink) was transferred to the newly formed Energy Infrastructure Investments Group, while APA continued as the operator. The ownership of EII is APA with 19.9%, with the balance with Marubeni (49.9%) and Osaka Gas (30.2%).

Capacity Murraylink consists of two 176-kilometre (109 mi) long bipolar HVDC cables. The circuit has an operating voltage of 150 kV and a transmission capacity of 220 megawatts. The link operates an "HVDC Light" voltage-source converter system, utilising insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBT), to convert electricity between alternating current and direct current. While Murraylink is rated at 220MW, it is unable to operate at capacity during periods of high demand due to limitations in the transmission infrastructure at either end. The limitations relate to thermal overload of transformers or transmission lines supplying the Riverland (for South Australia to Victoria transmission) and western Victoria (for Victoria to South Australia transmission).

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Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Murraylink

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Murraylink claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In engineering, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Murraylink before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Murraylink ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Murraylink

In research: Murraylink appears in engineering research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Murraylink in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Murraylink is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2002 establishments in Australia, Australian power station stubs, Electric power infrastructure in South Australia, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Murraylink outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Murraylink in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Murraylink means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Murraylink out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Murraylink in simple terms?

Why does Murraylink matter?

Because it connects several engineering ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Murraylink?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Murraylink.