Hautapu Substation Project
We’re supporting and planning for regional growth and community development in Waipā.
Hautapu Substation Project at a glance
- 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
Regional growth
The future of Waipā is bright and Waipā Networks is proud to be part of it.
Over the next decade, our region is expected to grow by over 25,000 with approximately 13,000 new homes set to be built in Cambridge.
Arguably one of the most vibrant and thriving areas in Aotearoa, Cambridge is in the heart of Waikato. Improvements in transportation and infrastructure make this town an attractive location for residential, commercial, and industrial development.
Investing in our infrastructure is critical for our region to continue to thrive. That’s why we have partnered with Transpower to develop a solution that will guarantee a reliable and resilient power supply for our network.
With works starting in September 2023, the project is well underway with the development of the Transpower substation, as well as a Waipā Networks 33kV zone substation. This will reinforce the supply into Cambridge and provide additional capacity to our wider network.
We are confident as a result of this investment we will be able to keep pace with the region’s growth and provide our customers with a consistently dependable and high-quality power supply.
Check out our latest timelapse showing progress on-site.
Our team hard at work during the line stringing
Our latest project updates
September 2024
More updates for this month to come.
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
August 2024
The team has been pushing through the rainy and chilly Winter days to keep the Hautapu Substation project moving along swiftly, on time and on budget.
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.
July 2024
This month, we have achieved some great milestones with the project taking shape.
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.
Concrete has also been poured for the basement floor underneath the 33kV room.
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.
June 2024
This month, we’ve been undertaking an ‘electrical tender’ process. We met with five potential contractors at the Hautapu site, along with Livingstone Building.
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.
September 2023
Local mana whenua, Ngāti Korokī-Kahukura and Ngāti Hauā led the traditional site blessing.
The team’s making great progress. We’ll be sure to keep you updated each month with more photos and videos of the mahi on-site.
Concepts
The new substation resides next to the Waikato Expressway and is linked to Forrest Road, Cambridge.
The project will reinforce the security and reliability of electricity supply into Cambridge and the Waipā region.
Hautapu Substation Project FAQs
The new Hautapu substation project includes:
- New 220kV Supply – Transpower's new substation will connect to their 220kV Overhead Transmission lines and be transformed with a reduced voltage of 33kV.
- New 33kV Supply - Waipa's new zone substation will be supplied with the 33kV supply provided by Transpower’s new Grid Exit Point (GXP) substation.
- 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.
Over the next decade, our region is expected to grow by over 25,000 with about 14,000 more people calling Cambridge home.
Investing in our infrastructure is critical to see our region continue to thrive. Improvements in transportation and local infrastructure will help make Cambridge an attractive location for residential, commercial, and industrial development.
The new substation will guarantee a reliable and resilient power supply for our network.
Transpower’s substation is on track to start commissioning by December 2024.
Our substation is due to be commissioned in April 2025. To celebrate the commissioning of the project, we will host an onsite blessing.
This is a joint partnership. The project includes the development of Transpower’s 220kV substation, as well as a Waipā Networks 33kV zone substation. Livingstone is our on-site civil engineer and other parties, such as Waipa's electrical installation contractors will be engaged throughout the project.
We are working closely with Ngāti Koroki Kahukura and Ngāti Hāua, Waipā District Council and neighbouring property owners.
We are doing our best to minimise disruptions. Some outages will be required throughout the project but we will try to keep these at a minimum. If your property is impacted, you will receive prior notice from your retailer to help you prepare. Surrounding areas within the Waipa network will need to be upgraded and modified to connect into the new zone substation.
The new substation resides next to the Waikato Expressway and is linked to Forrest Road, Cambridge.
- New 220kV Supply – Transpower's new substation will connect to their 220kV Overhead Transmission lines and be transformed with a reduced voltage of 33kV.
- New 33kV Supply - Waipa's new zone substation will be supplied with the 33kV supply provided by Transpower’s new Grid Exit Point (GXP) substation.
- 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.
Contact us
If you have any questions about this project please contact us:
Ph: 0800 800 769 (24hr)
Email: talk2us@waipanetworks.co.nz
OR
Head to our contact us