Orion rebuild on track for completion by 2019

Orion rebuild on track for completion by 2019

Orion has met another milestone in restoring resilience and reliability to Christchurch's electricity network with construction recently starting on a high voltage underground cable loop around the north of Christchurch. This is another big step in Orion's overall plan to restore pre-earthquake levels of reliability to the network by 2019.

This $45m project adds electrical capacity to northern Christchurch and additional resilience to the city's power network. The project includes construction of a new substation near Johns and Sawyers Arms Roads, and installation of 22kms of underground high voltage cable that links this new substation to Orion's existing substations at Papanui and Rawhiti Domain in New Brighton. A new substation at Marshlands will also be built. Work on the loop is scheduled for completion in 2018.

Orion CEO, Rob Jamieson, said "Our northern loop cable and substation project is a significant development for us. Given our heavy post-quake workload across the region, I'm pleased this project has started on time and that we remain on track to complete our earthquake repairs and rebuild by 2019 as programmed."

"In addition to supplying power to Northern Christchurch, because we like to achieve as much as we can from every dollar we spend, we've designed the loop so that when finished it will also help increase power security and resilience for all Christchurch residents. Our loop design allows us reroute power to other parts of the city should certain cables fail elsewhere."

"The northern part of Christchurch has experienced significant growth since the earthquakes, and it's essential that we provide new and existing residents in the area with a secure supply of electricity."

"In the future having a reliable electricity network will be more important than ever for our customers and the projects that we will complete by 2019 are an investment for our community's future. Homes being built with solar panels still depend upon power supply from our network and many homes are likely to have electric cars in coming years, meaning residents transport options will also depend on the power staying on. Our Northern Loop project, and other works that we have planned for the next 5 years, helps us meet customer demand for a reliable, resilient power supply."

ENDS

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