Major contract awarded for HVDC inter-island link

Major contract awarded for HVDC inter-island link

Transpower today awarded the principal contract for construction of Pole 3 of the high voltage direct current (HVDC) inter-island link to Siemens.

The Pole 3 project, worth up to $672 million, received approval in September 2008 and involves replacing the 44-year old Pole 1 equipment at Haywards substation north of Wellington and Benmore substation in the South Island with new, modern thyristor converters. The project will increase the capacity of the overall HVDC link to 1000 MW in 2012 and 1200MW in 2014.

The contract with Siemens is the largest that will be awarded during the Pole 3 project and its scope represents more than half of the works to be completed. Under the contract, Siemens will construct the converter stations at each end of the link, expand the 220 kV switchyards at both substations and build the new voltage support equipment at Haywards, which enables the most efficient use of the link.

Transpower Chief Executive Patrick Strange said that the award of the contract was a significant milestone for the project, and will enable construction of the project to start shortly.

“We are pleased to announce Siemens as our partner on this project. We have worked with Siemens on several large transmission projects before and are confident of their capability and experience to deliver this important project on time and to budget,” he said.

“The Pole 3 project is a major component of our wider investment plan to reinforce the Grid. The link is critical to balancing the energy use between the islands and allows us to transport electricity to where it is needed, regardless of where it is generated,” he said.

Siemens New Zealand Chief Executive Paul Ravlich said that they are looking forward to being part of the project.

“We have extensive global experience in constructing HVDC systems and believe that our specialist knowledge and technology will be of great value to Transpower and the delivery of the Pole 3 project,” he said.

Site improvement works including civil and seismic strengthening works at Haywards, will begin early in the New Year, with Siemens beginning the major construction works in March 2010.

ENDS

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