This time lights will stay on
Back-up generation will reduce the impact of Top Energy’s ninehour outage, scheduled for Sunday, November 18, for maintenance on the main Kaitaia line.
Generators have been set up to supply power to more than 2000 customers in central Kaitaia, and more at Taipa will supply more than 4000 customers at Doubtless Bay and in Taipa, Mangonui and O¯ ruru.
Without diesel generation 10,000 customers would be without power, but that number will reduce to 4850.
The generators will together supply 6.2MW of back-up power, but Top Energy chief executive Russell Shaw said it was “absolutely essential” that people in those areas limit their power use to avoid overloading them.
If generation capacity was exceeded, the power would go out.
Mr Shaw asked that “highenergy” users, like washing machines and air conditioning, not be used.
“Remember to fill your petrol tank before the outage too, as pumps and eftpos won’t work, and store some water if you rely on electricity to pump it,” he added.
More information on the outage would be posted on Top Energy’s website Outage Centre, and the Top Energy Outage App could be downloaded from itunes or Google Play Store.
Anyone who was reliant on electricity for medical support equipment should contact their medical providers for advice.
“We are very pleased we can limit the scale of this major outage and reduce the impact on our customers,” Mr Shaw added.
“These days, because we can no longer do live line work on our network, generators provide the only viable alternative.”
The use of back-up generation was part of the company’s strategy to boost the reliability of the local power supply while longer-term initiatives such as the Ngawha expansion came onstream. The Kaitaia generators were a key component of that strategy, and would be used to secure supply to Top Energy’s northern network, supplying 10,000 customers, until the second 110kV line into Kaitaia was built.
The use of diesel generators introduced a degree of flexibility into how the network was managed.
Two 1MW diesel generators would be installed at Omanaia over summer to supply 1600 customers in the south-west Hokianga while the substation and 33kV line were upgraded. Once that project was completed they would be relocated to the Kaitaia generator park.