Aurora Energy has begun upgrading its Alexandra substation, which supplies electricity to more than 4,400 customers in the area.

The lines company is installing new equipment as well as constructing a new building in a bid to boost safety, reliability and resilience.

The work comes after a fault in late August at the existing substation, when a circuit breaker failed to operate as expected. 

As a result, extra safety measures have been applied to the current facility while the transition to the new one is underway.

Aurora service delivery general manager Richard Starkey warned there may be brief, planned power interruptions of “less than 10 minutes” to allow checks by contractors while the network reconfiguration is completed.

The upgrade also includes replacing some high voltage 33 kV lines. That work is scheduled to happen in two stages, in November and February. 

During this period, electricity normally fed through two circuits to Alexandra will temporarily be supplied via one circuit, and Omakau will draw power via Alexandra’s circuit.

Aurora says this single circuit has the capacity to serve all customers, but acknowledged that in the event of an unforeseen fault, restoration could take six to eight hours.

While Aurora maintains that the substation has continued to operate reliably, the company stresses the need for these works to underpin future delivery.

Historically, Aurora’s network has suffered from prolonged underinvestment, particularly in Central Otago, a factor now driving much of its accelerated upgrade programme. 

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