Electricity Industry Awards

Electricity Industry Awards recognise outstanding achievement in safety, engineering and a young professional

Innovations in safety, engineering and a young engineer were celebrated at the EEA Electricity Industry Awards.

The presentation took place during a keynote session at the EEA Conference in Wellington, attended by over 500 delegates from New Zealand's electricity industry. Awards were presented by keynote and visiting NASA astronaut Captain Wendy Lawrence.

“To deliver the best outcomes to our workforce, businesses and customers we need to learn from the best,” said Peter Berry, executive director at the EEA. “These awards are the electricity supply industry's opportunity to celebrate best practice, recognise achievements and share knowledge and experience.”

The EEA Workplace Safety Award was won by Electrix for their entry 'Distribution Technical Guide'. Electrix identified a gap in the company's testing procedures documentation after some near misses. The guide has become an all encompassing field reference, supplied in hard copy and on tablets for every truck and work crew.

The EEA Public Safety Award winner was Powerco, for their Public Safety Campaign focussed on education around the potential hazards of electricity lines and poles, transformers and substations. All highly visible parts of people's everyday life, yet Powerco recognised that the public is not always aware of the serious safety issues that may surround such equipment.

The Engineering Excellence award went to AECOM for their Wairau Road GXP Substation.

The judges chose this project because; 'it is innovative in design and process. It overcame a number of technical issues, and just as important there was very effective interaction with the local community which really brought them along and kept everyone informed. The project represents an engineering and public project showpiece, overcoming many challenges and delivering a great safety record.'

The final award was the Young Engineer of the Year. “It is rightly one of our flagship awards, showing commitment to excellence and to professional development” said Peter Berry.

The 2015 winner is Kieran Kennedy of Mitton ElectroNet. As part of the Award, he will be representing New Zealand at the 2015 International Electricity Council Young Professionals Workshop which is being held on 12-14th of October, part of the IEC General Meeting in Minsk, Belarus.

“Congratulations to all the finalists and to the winners,” said Berry.

ENDS

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