Temporary overhead lines going
Palmerston North’s ‘‘temporary’’ overhead power lines on Main St start coming down today.
The removal of some 50 poles and 2.9 kilometres of cables will mark the completion of Powerco’s $27.4 million, fiveyear investment in upgrading the city’s power supply.
The lines went up in September 2016 as a temporary measure following the failure of one of three underground cables supplying the Main St substation.
It was a time when continuity of supply to the city’s central business district was under stress, resulting in a major outage that affected many properties including the Plaza.
In November 2017 the city council extended permission for the power lines to remain for five years. The consent expires at the end of the year.
Powerco general manager Karen Frew said the power upgrades that had been carried out in the past five years would secure the city’s electricity supply for now, and also allow for future growth in demand.
‘‘The Palmerston North CBD is the second-largest central business district we serve, and our largest exclusively underground network.’’
One of the most visible aspects of the power supply upgrades was the building of a new substation on the corner of Linton and Ferguson streets, and installation of a second transformer there.
There was also a new indoor 33kV switchroom constructed at the Linton substation.
Most of the rest was underground – between the Linton St and Pascal St substations, laying larger capacity cables between the Ferguson St and Main St substations, and bringing new underground circuits from Linton, across the Manawatū River and into the new Ferguson St substation.
Most of those projects have required periods of roadworks with traffic management around the large holes in the ground.
Frew said she wanted to thank people on the various routes and in the wider Palmerston North community for their patience and understanding while the works were carried out.
The removal of the Main St overhead cables and supporting poles will start at the Keith St substation end of the line.