Source: Radio New Zealand
Top Energy workers at a Kaikohe substation on the evening of a major power cut. RNZ / Peter de Graaf
Far North lines company Top Energy says repairs to a substation that failed spectacularly almost a month ago have now been completed.
At about 5.20pm on 6 November, Kaikohe residents reported hearing an explosion and seeing the doors to a substation building blown open as power went out to more than 23,000 homes and businesses across the district.
Fire suppression systems were triggered and volunteers from the Kaikohe and Ōkaihau fire brigades made sure the building was safe before staff entered to assess the damage.
Power was restored to most households by midnight but smaller outages continued for days afterwards.
Top Energy staff get the replacement switchboard panel ready for installation. Supplied / Top Energy
Top Energy attributed the outage at the time to a “catastrophic failure” in a high-voltage switchboard.
Chief executive Russell Shaw said a replacement panel, sourced from the Ngāwhā geothermal power plant, had now been installed and the Kaikohe substation was back to full capacity.
Shaw said the damaged panel had been sent to the manufacturer for detailed analysis, and the company was checking similar substations around the Far North.
The 6 November outage came just six days after another power cut of similar scale and duration was triggered by a tree falling onto power lines south of Kerikeri.
“We understand these outages may have shaken the confidence of some in the community about the reliability of the electricity network, and we’re very sorry about that. But I want to provide assurance that the network is reliable, and we have invested significantly in recent years,” Shaw said.
To add extra resilience, the company was planning to install connection points for diesel generators at each of its substations over the next 12 to 18 months.
If another major outage occurred, those connections would allow temporary diesel generators to be deployed across the network within days rather than weeks, he said.
Meanwhile, the Commerce Commission has launched an investigation after the 6 November outage breached the annual limit on the permitted number and duration of power cuts.
Shaw said Top Energy would cooperate fully and comply with the commission’s findings. The company would also provide any findings from the manufacturer’s analysis of the failed switchboard.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
