17 Mar 2023
Work to bypass our two slip-affected towers that carry electricity into Northland has progressed this week after rain caused delays at the end of last week.
One of two circuits on the Henderson to Marsden 220kV line has been successfully moved to temporary towers erected on firmer land, with the other circuit now due to be moved to a temporary structure next week.
With the first circuit successfully moved, the risk of a long-lasting power outage due to the slip has largely been mitigated, even if the slip were to move further.
Any outages from this point forward would most likely be caused by lightning or other equipment failure. Depending on the cause, we would expect to be able to restore power relatively quickly, from a few minutes to a matter of hours.
However, despite the risk being small, we continue to encourage residents to be prepared for an extended outage until the bypass is fully in place.
We are also progressing with the design of the permanent solution for the 220kV line as well as for the affected tower on the adjacent Henderson to Maungatapere 110kV line. Our focus over the last fortnight has been on getting the temporary bypass in place and returning security of supply to residents of Northland, so we don’t yet have an estimate for when the permanent solution will be in place.
A big thank you to our service provider Electrix, whose crews have been working at pace in very challenging conditions due to the terrain and challenging access in the area. They created more than 4km of access tracks to bring equipment in and put up three temporary towers in rapid time to create the 220kV bypass.
We remain grateful to our lines company partners (Top Energy NZ, Northpower and Vector Limited), key stakeholders like Civil Defence Northland and the wider community for their continued patience and support while we complete the work.
For media enquiries, please contact: Nathan Green, Principal Communications Advisor 027 387 5256.