Power returns to Hawke’s Bay: Unison network now fully restored, three months on

The temporary substation set up at Awatoto after the previous substation was destroyed by Cyclone Gabrielle. Photo / Unison

The completion of Unison’s network restoration work marks another big step forward in Hawke’s Bay’s recovery nearly three months on from Cyclone Gabrielle.

Unison said in a statement today that they had reconnected Awatoto customers who were previously on a limited supply back to the network.

“After contacting the last remaining customers without power this week, those who were in a position to be reconnected were switched across, with all remaining customers able to be reconnected when they have finished their cleanup or replaced damaged equipment required before reconnection could take place,” the statement said.

Jason Larkin, Unison incident controller and Commercial GM, said a significant clean-up was required at the Awatoto substation, which was extensively damaged by Cyclone Gabrielle.

A temporary substation had been built at Awatoto to serve customers until the restoration work could be completed.

“It was great to be able to reconnect all customers who were in a position to be reconnected, and we will be able to move quickly when the remaining customers impacted by flooding are ready,” he said.

“Our crews have worked extremely hard over the last six weeks since being able to gain entry to the substation, and I want to take this opportunity to thank them for all their hard work”.

The milestone means that the network is now back to where it was before the cyclone although permanent, resilient repairs are ongoing.

“We are now looking at how best to replace any temporary substations with new permanent substations, which could involve raising the substation off the ground or relocating to a different area to reduce flooding risk,” Larkin said.

“We’re also continuing to work alongside Transpower to ensure supply into the region meets demand ahead of winter. We have a firm plan in place to undertake the work required to build additional resilience and security in transmission supply, ahead of peak demand during the cooler months”.

The Unison statement warned customers to be prepared for more planned outages, some as short as five to ten minutes and some that could be longer and could be more frequent at peak times.

Unison also reminded everyone, but especially contractors, farmers, orchardists and anyone working around electricity lines or using plant and machinery as part of the clean-up, to be aware and stay safe around electricity, treating all lines as live.

Larkin thanked the community for their patience, understanding and support and promised Unison would continue to work with those impacted by Cyclone Gabrielle to assist them with electrical inspection and reconnection, or disconnection of their properties.