• New 33kV – our zone substations will connect to Transpower’s Grid Exit Point (GXP) substation in Hautapu.
• 13,200 new homes by 2050  – we’re planning for 13,200 new homes across the Waipā district.
• 50MW by 2025 – peak demand is expected to grow from 42MW to 50MW.

Click HERE for Hautapu Substation Project FAQs

These images taken from our remote timelapse camera and onsite show the progress made on the new building.

You can see the team completing the final fitouts to the exterior of the building.

A huge focus has also been put on updating the inside of the new building that holds the switchgear and new control room.

Here you can see the FRZSS 11kV Switchgear installed in the new building which will soon have four 11kV feeder cables connecting into our existing network supporting the Pencarrow, Tamahere, Cambridge West and Kaipaki areas.

Protection, Control and Comms Panels were also installed inside the new control room for the management and protection of our new zone substation.

This month, we achieved a major project milestone as new lines were connected and secured with the help and expertise of a skilled helicopter pilot and lines crew – up the towers and on the ground.

Read the story HERE

Transpower installed the last set of Monopoles that will transmit power on the 220kV Otahuhu-Whakamaru overhead transmission lines.

Here, you can see the H-Structure and Monopoles that were recently installed to construct the overhead lines.

Now, that’s a view –  the Transmission linesmen work on the 220K Otahuhu-Whakamaru transmission circuit that has recently been installed.

The steel for the switch room building roof and stairway has been delivered in preparation for installation. Each element of the switch room is coming together well.

Here’s a view of the last floating floor of the switch room. The concrete has been poured and the finishing touches completed.

Lots is going on at the Forrest Road site. Livingstone Building are our onsite civil engineers and are working closely with our project team undertaking quality inspections of the new build.

A 90-tonne crane arrived on site in preparation to assemble the walls of the Waipā zone substation switch room. If you look past the crane, you will see the first of four Transpower gantry structures used for connecting the 220kV overhead conductors.

The walls arrived ready for the team to begin constructing the Waipā zone substation switch room.

Each wall panel is joined and temporarily propped and supported until all walls have been installed, interlocked and connected safely together.

These images show the cylindrical steel piles and hold-down cages used to support the overhead 220kV lines that will supply the new substation.

Here is an after shot of the steel piles and hold-down cages once they were buried in the ground.

We always have a safety plan. The images above show a preliminary plan for safely lifting the walls. Additional safety measures include the team completing a pre-start safety walkthrough and site assessment with the crane operator before work start.

This image shows our propping plan, which ensures that once our concrete walls are constructed, they are safely stable.

As expected, we have had some rainy, chilly and foggy mornings. This hasn’t stopped us from continuing the mahi on our switch room. The 200kV Transmission lines in the background are the Transpower Otahuhu-Whakamaru overhead transmission lines that will soon connect and supply the new substation.

The switch room walls are coming together nicely. Our crane and ground crew are working hard to get everything in place in some trialling weather conditions experienced during the week of installation.

We recently had a site induction at the Transpower site, where Spartan, the main contractor, is currently managing the site. Soon, Transpower’s electrical contractor, Omexom, will take over.

Transpower has been rolling out gravel to insulate the substation.

To prepare for the impending poor weather, the team positioned scaffolding and floodlights to pour concrete overnight.

Here’s a view of the basement floor beneath the 11kV room. We have laid the concrete and it has hardened enough to allow for finishing touches.

Concrete has also been poured for the basement floor underneath the 33kV room.

We have laid the concrete floor in the basement beneath the 33kV room, and we will now prepare the site for installing the 33kV switchgear, which will require pouring another layer of concrete to create a subfloor.

These images show the new entrance to the control room and the area below it.

Here’s a view of the transformer foundation, showing the bund walls that were poured last week and the removal of the shutters. Final finishes are planned to achieve a smoother appearance.

Scaffolding provides a safe entry into the civil location where the transformer’s 33kV and 11kV cables will enter the building. 11kV network feeders will also enter the opposite side into the 11kV switch room.

There’s plenty of heavy machinery on-site to get the job done. Below is a photo of a truck and trailer unloading gravel.

Our team gathers at our designated safe zone each morning for a pre-start safety meeting, ensuring everyone is informed and ready for a productive day of mahi.

We’ve set up metered and portable lifeguards for temporary buildings on-site. We also needed to provide safe and reliable electricity for all our tools and equipment. 

This is an extremely hazardous area, so the construction zone is equipped with a detailed hazard board to keep everyone safe and informed.  

Here’s a shot of the switch room building foundation with footings, just before concrete was poured at the end of the month.

We also completed the transformer foundations and installed HV cable ducts. Here’s a view of the site just before pouring the concrete.

Here is the Transpower oil containment tank for safely containing transformer leaks and spills.

A lot is going on in this photo. From left to right, you can see the Transpower surge arrestor foundation pad, Transpower earth switch foundation pad and Transpower capacitor voltage transformers. Infront, is the Transpower’s A/frame gantry tower foundations, which will support the overhead 220,000-volt (220kV) Lines.

Local mana whenua, Ngāti Korokī-Kahukura and Ngāti Hauā led the traditional site blessing.