11 Mar 2026
Transpower today opened a new $32 million warehouse in Rolleston as it scales up its investment in the South Island’s electricity transmission grid to enable the increasing electrification of how Kiwis live and work and help drive economic growth.
The 8,000 square-metre Rolleston warehouse, which is situated on 30,000 square metres of land, provides double the covered storage space of the grid operator’s existing facility at Addington and much better functionality, including temperature-controlled storerooms for critical equipment.
Transpower Chief Executive James Kilty said the facility supports greater procurement and supply chain flexibility and resilience as Transpower steps up its work programme to connect new renewable generation supply and meet growing demand for electricity across the island.
“Transpower has a critical role enabling communities and businesses across Aotearoa to grow and thrive through enabling the electrification of the economy,” he said.
“We’ve been working at pace with our partners across the electricity sector to build new infrastructure to ensure Kiwis have access to abundant and affordable electricity from the many renewable generation projects being developed around the country.
“With electricity use expected to increase materially by 2050 we’re going to need to go faster still and maintain that over the coming decades. Our new warehouse is part of our commitment to investing in our network so we can enable the increasingly electrified future New Zealand needs to underpin our wellbeing and prosperity.”
Mr Kilty said Transpower is investing in multiple new grid connections and a range of major new projects around the country over the next five to ten years in support of electrification and economic growth. This includes major customer developments to support growth in Murihiku Southland and Queenstown as well as work to increase the carrying capacity and reliability of the grid for all of the South Island north of the southern hydro lakes.
Transpower also has an extensive replacement and refurbishment programme to ensure that its network, which was largely built between the 1950s and the 1970s, can continue to perform safely and reliably. This includes an uplift in work to harden the grid against the increasing frequency of natural hazards driven by climate change, including high winds and flooding.
Capital expenditure on the grid across the country over the five years to 2030 will be 32% higher than the previous five-year period at $4.7 billion, indicating the scale of the investment and work challenge for Transpower. This figure doesn’t include a number of major capital projects that are funded through a different mechanism.
Mr Kilty said the Commerce Commission rigorously tests Transpower’s investment and spending plans to ensure Kiwi’s receive the best value for money as well the reliable electricity supply they depend on. Transpower’s grid also puts downward pressure on prices by enabling consumers to access the cheapest generation available across both islands at any point in time, increasing competition among generators.
The Rolleston Warehouse
Transpower partnered on the warehouse with Calder Stewart, a nationwide leader in property and building development solutions for New Zealand’s industrial and commercial markets.
Calder Stewart has a strong presence in Christchurch including extensive land holdings, meaning it was uniquely placed to deliver Transpower’s specific land area and site development requirements with certainty around costs and timeframes. The Rolleston site was selected by Transpower for its $32 million investment because it gave the best value for money for the new facility and offered access to a rail hub, motorway links and easy access to other logistics organisations.
Ben Murphy, General Manager | Property at Calder Stewart said, “Supporting the critical infrastructure that underpins New Zealand’s electricity network requires facilities designed for long-term resilience and operational certainty.
“Working closely with Transpower, we delivered a purpose-built IL4 warehouse through a fully integrated land, design and build approach, ensuring the scale, durability and capability needed to support the growing demands on the national grid.”
The project employed 49 people contributing more than 15,000 hours of labour, and all subcontractors bar one specialist were local. Materials were sourced from the South Island with precast manufactured by Calder Stewart in Christchurch, structural steel by Calder Stewart in Milton, concrete supplied by Firth, and aggregate from local quarries.
Transpower has a strong Christchurch presence with almost 160 staff at its Gilberthorpes Road office and the control room next door. This is up from just 66 when Transpower shifted its local operations to the office in 2013. There is also a team of five that will be based fulltime at the new warehouse.
Improving resilience
Mr Kilty said that an IL4 warehouse is designed to the highest standards of structural resilience, meaning it can remain fully operational immediately after a major natural disaster, such as a severe earthquake, flood, or emergency event.
“As a critical infrastructure provider, resilience is in our DNA,” he said.
“People in Christchurch know just how devastating natural disasters can be, and the importance of having resilient critical infrastructure during and after an event.
“Not only is our new warehouse designed to withstand whatever Mother Nature can throw at us, it also enables us to boost storage of critical spares to more quickly restore supply if our transmission network is impacted anywhere across the island.”
For more information, please contact Transpower’s communications team on 021 195 8613 or Calder Stewart on 027 257 9845
About Transpower
Transpower has been powering and connecting New Zealand for more than 100 years. As a state-owned enterprise, it owns and operates the national electricity grid on behalf of all New Zealanders to deliver warmth, security and economic prosperity along with the clean energy that fuels our nation.
It manages thousands of kilometres of transmission lines strung across thousands of towers connecting to hundreds of substations and moves electricity from where it is made to where it is needed, enabling local lines companies to connect homes and business to the energy they need all around the motu.
Transpower is also the system operator, running the electricity market and balancing supply and demand 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, to keep the power flowing up and down Aotearoa.
About Calder Stewart
Calder Stewart is a nationwide leader in developing property and building solutions for New Zealand’s industrial and commercial markets.
Every year its team of around 450 people deliver outcomes for local, national and international clients by building many of the largest and most complex projects across the country. A family-owned business started in Milton in 1955, for over 65 years it has successfully evolved its services into a national offering.
Its capabilities include an extensive land portfolio, end-to-end property services, Design Build solutions, plus manufacturing and construction services.