Long power cuts could be in past for rural areas

By CHRIS DANIELS energy writer

Next time the lights go out in the Far North, they may not stay off for quite so long, thanks to some innovative local thinking and New Zealand engineering.

Those in more isolated parts of the country are often forced to dine by candlelight every time maintenance is needed on their closest substation.

In the cities, electricity can be re-routed through other transformers, meaning the lights go out less often and for shorter periods in times of breakdown.

Far North power lines company Top Energy is moving to improve things with its most recent purchase, New Zealand's first mobile substation.

The residents of Coromandel and Whitianga were forced to go without television coverage of the recent All Black and Kiwi rugby matches because work was needed on their local power lines.

In Top Energy's area of the Far North, there is no back-up for any of the 11 substations, so power is blacked out for a long time while they are fixed.

Substations in the Far North and other rural parts of New Zealand often operate at only 50 per cent of their capacity, so installing a back-up transformer would not be economically justified. Vector, which supplies power for most of the Auckland region, has more than 30 connections per kilometre of line, whereas Top Energy has about five.

The new mobile substation, handed over to Top Energy yesterday, will be based near Paihia at Haruru Falls during the holiday season when electricity demand in the area soars.

For the rest of the year it will be used during routine maintenance, all the while ready to swing into action in times of emergency.

The substation is a large transformer, which drops down high voltage electricity lines to lower voltages suitable for sending down domestic powerlines.

Roger de Bray, chief executive of Top Energy, said just because the lines company serviced a largely rural area, it did not follow that it was behind the times.

"People tend to view people who run rural operations as a bunch of bloody hicks in three-button cardigans - to be at the front end of this thing in a technological sense has been really good. Our objectives are clear that we do not buy into the conventional wisdom about running power companies," said Mr de Bray.

"I would suggest that this is another thing that evidences that we think outside the square sometimes."

The mobile substation was built in New Zealand by Arthur D Riley & Company (ADR), which says it is up to 50 per cent cheaper than similar units that can be bought on the international market.

ADR is proud of its work on the mobile transformer, pointing out that instead of it being filled with the traditional insulating oil, it has a new "Envirotemp" fluid inside. This fluid, only recently released for sale on the international market, removes the fire and pollution spill risks of most transformers.

"It's so pure you can eat it," says the company.

While the Top Energy unit may be lent out to neighbouring lines companies, ADR is hoping that a few others who have to service isolated areas will put in an order.