More Than Meets The Eye: Turning Transformer Trouble Into Sustainable Success

What started as an unexpected failure on a key piece of machinery has ended as one of the most ambitious and successful recycling projects Meridian has ever undertaken.

A failure in one of two transformers at Meridian’s West Wind site last May left the team with one working transformer and scratching their heads about what to do with the other one – all 100 tonnes of it.

“We decided that it wasn't cost effective to repair,” says West Wind Site Owner Hamish Walker.

“One of the questions we asked was, what's best for business? Do we pick this failed transformer up, plonk it next to it, and just leave it there?”

Ultimately, the decision was guided by a combination of economics and environmentalism. Senior Project Manager Jade Lloyd says the team quickly found that the best and only acceptable option was to salvage as much of the failed transformer as possible.

Of the roughly 100-tonne transformer and 36,000 litres of oil, it’s estimate that just three tonnes of wood, oil-soaked wood and paper were unable to be repurposed, recycled or reused.

Lower Hutt-based supplier Macaulay Metals was engaged to assist with the removal of the transformer. Because its enormous size made it very hard to transport it on the winding rural roads leading from West Wind, it was dismantled into its component parts on site.

“They took the tank away, pulled all the copper out, and that's going away and getting recycled. And they pull all the steel laminations, which is the majority of the weight there. Then they get chopped into smaller laminations and get reused in smaller transformers,” says Hamish Walker.

Following five months of meticulous planning, the scrapping process took just two weeks, starting with 36,000 litres of oil being drained for recycling.

“We sent that off to eNZoil, a transformer oil company in New Zealand that regenerates the oil so that we can buy it back and reuse it in our new transformer, which is an awesome sustainable win for us,” says Jade Lloyd.

And the team was also focused on ensuring workers were kept safe in the challenging conditions.

“I’m very proud of the project managers and the engineers and the team that carried out the work,” says Hamish Walker.

“We had adverse weather conditions while we were doing it. We did it safely, and we did it with minimal environmental impact.

“And what we’ve learned throughout this process is incredibly valuable for the next time we’re looking to replace major pieces of machinery or equipment.”

A replacement T2 transformer is expected to arrive at West Wind in early 2025.

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