Unison will spend $600m in Hawke’s Bay over next decade - where will it go?

A $10m upgrade of Camberley Substation was recently completed. Pictured are Unison workers (from left) Ben Barker, Josh Goddard, Gagan Chadha, Monish Gosai and Nathan Berry. Photo / Alphapix

Electricity and powerlines company Unison plans to spend more than $600 million on its Hawke’s Bay network over the next decade, which includes four big substation projects.

Unison provides electricity to more than 119,000 homes and businesses across a large area of Hawke’s Bay (including Napier and Hastings), Taupō and Rotorua.

The company, owned by the Hawke’s Bay Power Consumers Trust, has been calling for feedback on its 10-year Regulatory Asset Management Plan.

That plan sets out the company’s projects and spending for 2025-35 and is updated annually.

For Hawke’s Bay alone, the company plans to spend $617.3m on what it calls “renewal projects” and “growth projects”.

Renewal projects (worth about $284m) include Unison’s maintenance programme from substation upgrades to replacing assets such as poles, wires and transformers.

Growth projects (worth about $333m) include connecting new customers and “supporting network development” as well as decarbonisation costs associated with “conversion of process heat to electricity”, the company says.

Map of Unison's network from Hawke's Bay up to Rotorua. Photo / Unison

Among its big-ticket projects, Unison has four big substation projects on its radar.

It recently completed the first of those, rebuilding the Camberley substation in Hastings at a cost of $10m.

That substation on Orchard Rd now boasts nearly four times its original capacity, helping to support development in the area as well as upgrades to Hawke’s Bay Hospital and electric vehicle fast-charging stations.

After Cyclone Gabrielle, Unison’s Awatoto, Tūtira and Esk substations are also due for upgrades to improve resilience.

The Awatoto substation on Napier’s Waitangi Rd is next in line, with a budget of $8m. Construction is due to begin later this year and be completed in 2027.

However, no decision has been made on whether that project will be a rebuild or a complete relocation.

The Tūtira and Esk substation projects will follow, with budgets of $5m each.

It was too early to say whether they would be rebuilds or relocations, Unison said.

“At Esk, with the proposed Mana Ahuriri development in the area, we are looking at locations to best serve our existing customers while planning for potential new growth.

“It is in our consideration that one or both [of Esk and Tūtira] could be relocated if that meets the criteria for resilience, cost and long-term benefit analysis.”

Unison is the fifth-largest electricity distributor in New Zealand.

It plans to spend $180.3m in Taupō and $265.3m in Rotorua over the next decade.

Centralines is the electricity distributor for Central Hawke’s Bay, and Firstlight Network covers Wairoa and Gisborne.

Unison is still inviting feedback on its 10-year plan through its website.

Gary Hamilton-Irvine is a Hawke’s Bay-based reporter who covers a range of news topics including business, councils, breaking news and cyclone recovery. He formerly worked at News Corp Australia.