Country Energy's regional general manager, Andrew Latta said the upgrades would help meet current and future energy needs in Tea Gardens, Hawks Nest and Karuah.

"The main transformer in the zone substation has been upgraded from 5/8 MVA to 10/16 MVA, doubling the existing supply capacity and providing ample capacity to meet demand from development in the area for some years to come," Mr Latta said.

"We're also creating an additional feeder from the zone substation to provide alternative power supply options to the urban areas of Hawks Nest.

"This will allow one main line to supply power directly to the northern area of Hawks Nest Village, reducing the load on the existing Tea Gardens-Hawks Nest and Mineral Deposits–Hawks Nest feeders that currently supply both townships.

"This additional line will improve overall network reliability and meet demand from any future development north of Hawks Nest."

As another part of the project, Country Energy are replacing existing 11KV overhead lines that cross the Myall River north of Tea Gardens with larger capacity underground cables.

"We are underboring the river to improve safety for water craft and greatly improving the visual impact on the surrounding national park," Mr Latta said.

"The new work will give Country Energy greater flexibility to transfer customers between supply lines when maintenance or repair work needs to be carried out on one of the lines."