Prime Minister opens Transpower’s new substation

Prime Minister opens Transpower’s new Otahuhu substation

Prime Minister, the Right Honourable John Key will tomorrow open Transpower’s second substation at Otahuhu, marking the completion of the Otahuhu 220 kV Substation Diversity Project.

The $100 million project provides greater diversity of power supply to the Auckland and Northland regions and was brought forward following the outage at the Otahuhu substation in 2006.

The project has involved the construction of a new 220 kV substation, physically separate from the existing Otahuhu substation. The Otahuhu substation is a critical node in Transpower’s network - a third of New Zealand’s power supply and nearly all of Auckland and Northland’s power is currently supplied through this one site.

The new substation is a combination of gas insulated switchgear (GIS) and an outdoor switchyard.

Transpower Chief Executive Patrick Strange said the completion of this project is the first of several that will help to reinforce Auckland’s power supply.

“Reliable electricity infrastructure is a fundamental premise for our largest city and commercial centre. This project, in addition to a number of other transmission projects including the underground cable circuit between Pakuranga and Albany, and the new line into Pakuranga from the south, will help ensure Auckland has a secure supply of electricity going into the future.

“This project involved over 300 people and over 300,000 work hours at a live substation, without any lost time injuries. Safety is one of our core values, and, in this business, absolutely vital. The safety culture fostered in this project has set the benchmark for our future work.”

The Otahuhu project is the first of around $1.7 billion worth of transmission projects Transpower has underway to reinforce its network into and across Auckland.

ENDS

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