Rotorua residents and businesses can look forward to a more secure power supply, thanks to lines company Unison opening a new substation to service the city.
 
The new Biak St substation, which has been 18 months in the making and opens today August 31, will help to ensure that in future the power always gets through.
 
“Rotorua is a growing city, and Unison expects demand for electricity to grow by 2 per cent a year for the next 10 years,” says Unison chief executive Ken Sutherland.
 
“The new Biak St substation will ensure we can meet that demand and help to contribute to Rotorua’s future growth.
 
“It also means that we will have a backup option to ensure continuity of supply to the city, should any mishap occur at the Arawa substation again.”
 
In April 2008, more than 9000 businesses and homes were without power for up to three hours when the Arawa substation, which has until now handled most of the city’s supply, failed. As well as increasing capacity, the Biak St substation will act as a backup.
 
Initially the new substation will serve the western side of the city, but continued work will extend its reach into the CBD and eastern suburbs. That work should be complete by the middle of 2010.
 
Mr Sutherland said local residents had been co-operative and understanding during work to dig trenches for underground cabling to and from the new substation. With the help and cooperation of the RDC a significant portion of the cabling was installed through council owned reserves. This minimised disruption to residents and resulted in some tidying up of some neglected parts of the reserve at the same time. As part of the project Unison also took an opportunity to underground existing lines around the Ray Boord sports ground, allowing the creation of additional sports fields.
 
“Unison is aware that a project such as this does entail some inconvenience for nearby residents, and we want to thank those affected by the substation works for understanding why this is necessary.”
 
The substation was officially opened today, August 31, by Unison General Manager Network & Operations Andre Botha and Rotorua Mayor Kevin Winters.
 
Unison, the fourth largest electricity powerlines company in New Zealand, safely delivers electricity to businesses and homes across Hawkes Bay, Taupo and Rotorua. Its supply area covers approximately 11,000 square kilometres and Unison is responsible for more than 9,000km of powerlines that connect to more than 105,000 customers.