Transforming Ferguson St substation

Work is progressing at the Ferguson Street substation in Palmerston North with the installation of a second transformer. The substation was commissioned in 2019 with one transformer – equipment that converts high voltage electricity from the national grid into lower voltages for distribution to homes and businesses.

An increasing demand for power from customers means we now need to provide extra capacity. Our work at Ferguson Street substation will help us achieve this, as part of our $22.6m investment programme in Palmerston North.

Now the second transformer is securely in place, it’s ready to go live once we commission a further piece of equipment, known as a master controller, later this year. This will allow us to improve the functionality of our Ferguson Street substation and provide a more secure supply of power to customers, by being able to share the load more effectively across the city’s main substations.

Check out our work in progress – to install the transformer at our Ferguson Street substation, we needed to remove the roof and use a crane to manoeuvre into place.