Livingstone to Christchurch Transmission Line Upgrade Complete

Transpower has completed its much needed upgrade of the transmission line between Livingstone and Christchurch to provide greater transmission capacity for upper South Island consumers.

The project involved duplexing the transmission line between Christchurch and Livingstone – essentially adding another wire to each of the three existing wires.

The work was carried out during summer outage ‘windows’ over the last two years. During each outage window, a number of kilometres of line were able to be duplexed, with the final 50kms of line in two sections between Livingstone and the Waitaki river and a section in the Timaru region, carried out between late October and mid December.

General Manager National Grid David Laurie said that the line upgrade was essential for consumers in Christchurch and the Upper South Island as it increases the transmission capacity of the Livingstone to Christchurch line by 45%.

“This project is just one of a number of projects planned or underway to meet increasing demand for electricity in the upper South Island by providing more transmission capacity.”

“We have a number of similar projects on the books that look to squeeze the most out of the existing system, and we are continuing with those projects. Ultimately, a new line will be required, but with the right mix of interim projects, this might not be for 20 or so years.”

“Congratulations to all of those who have worked on the project. We would also like to acknowledge and thank the landowners with the transmission line over their properties, who worked closely and positively with us during the project. Working together to ensure that the project was completed with as little disruption as possible to properties and farming works was beneficial for all involved.”

ENDS

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