23 January 2008
IPENZ concerned about under investment in essential energy infrastructure
IPENZ believes under investment in essential energy infrastructure has caused concerns about high risk disruptions to North Island’s power supply due to the poor state of the High Voltage Direct Current power link between the North and South Islands.
Independent reports indicate the Pole 1 equipment, one of two systems operating the cables linked to Lower Hutt and Benmore Stations is over 42 years old, well beyond its expected life. The reports indicate there is a high probability of the failure to the equipment in Pole 1 before 2012.
“It is vitally important that NZ invests in critical infrastructure and this should be planned in a timely fashion” says Andrew Cleland of IPENZ. “The HVDC link was a state of the art engineering feat in its day. Engineers and maintenance staff have managed the link creditably over its lifetime, but every asset reaches the end of its economic life at some stage.”
“Currently Pole 1 is one of two remaining mercury arc HVDC systems in the world, they are not manufactured any more, and there are serious questions whether this type of technology should continue to be used due to environmental and health and safety issues, let alone reliability concerns,” says Andrew Cleland.
The need to upgrade this equipment was identified in the Grid Upgrade Plan that was submitted to the Electricity Commission in 2005 (with an estimated cost of $520 million.) That submission stated “it needs to be a reliable link, and the 40 year old mercury-based technology associated with Pole 1 is progressively falling short of the reliability and availability standards that we require of a 21st century power system.”
“These delays for such a critical component of infrastructure are unacceptable” says Andrew Cleland. “IPENZ is unclear where the responsibility for the delays lie, and the extent to which the complex regulatory framework has contributed, but NZ industrial and domestic energy consumers deserve a better outcome.”
For more information contact:
Andrew Cleland
Chief Executive, IPENZ, Engineers New Zealand.
Mobile: 021 311 879
DDI: 04 474 8935Prepared by Julie Buchanan
Communications Manager, IPENZ, Engineers NZ
DDI: 04 473 2028
