Tīnui and East Coast community

 

We held a community meeting at the Tīnui Hall in late 2023, to answer questions and hear suggestions on community resilience from people in the Tīnui and East Coast area, stretching from Mataikona to Stronvar and including Tīnui, Castlepoint and Riversdale Beach communities. 

About 40 people attended, with many travelling more than an hour-and-a-half to speak to us on a wide range of topics, from magpies to forestry and reclosers to emergency power solutions.

Thank you for the time you put in to preparing and attending this meeting. 

Since then, we’ve been working to improve the reliability and quality of power supply for our customers in this Wairarapa district. You’ll see some of our progress and planned work below. 


Castlepoint and Riversdale Beach emergency backup generators

Earlier this year (2024), we installed backup generators in both the Castlepoint and Riversdale Beach communities. Electricity to these communities is supplied by single feeders, which means we’re unable to re-route power from another feeder to restore supply if there’s an outage. 

With generation, there’s a resource to help power the communities in the event of the electricity feed being unavailable for an extended period of time. It also enables Castlepoint and Riversdale communities to set up community hubs to supply essential services for people in the event of a natural disaster.

It's important to know, these generators are not currently digitally connected to our Network Operations Centre (NOC) in New Plymouth. This means they cannot be turned on remotely by our network controllers. While we're working towards enabling the generators to be controlled remotely, at present, a technician is required to travel to the generator sites to turn them on manually. For this reason, they are currently only able to be used for extended outages. For example, in their current state, the generators will be an asset in storm events when extensive damage to the network could leave the community without power for extended periods while repairs to power poles and lines are made.

The Castlepoint generator has been installed at the township’s wastewater treatment site, while the Riversdale Beach generator is on private farmland about 3km out of the township on Homewood Rd.

 

Castlepoint generator update, 11 December 2024

There will be a short, planned outage for Castlepoint customers on Wednesday 18 December between 11am and 12.15pm to test the remote starting of the generator. Affected customers will receive notification of this from their energy retailer. They can also view planned outages for their address here.

The test will allow our controllers in our Network Operations Centre in New Plymouth to work through the process of safely turning on the generator remotely. Another remote start trial will take place in the new year, at a time yet to be determined.

At the same time, we’ll also be training the local fault crew in Masterton on how to turn the generator on manually. 

It’s important to note that there may be situations when it will not be safe for our network controllers to turn the generator on remotely or for it to be turned on manually. This would be if there was a network fault, such as a vehicle versus power pole or lines down, in Castlepoint township itself. The generator has been placed on the western outskirts of the town so that it can be used if the only line coming into Castlepoint has a fault (eg, tree through line on the way to Castlepoint). 

Once testing is complete, Powerco will be able to start the generator remotely and restore supply to Castlepoint community. However, please note that it won’t be an immediate start. For safety, we need to make sure there has been no accidents or lines down connected to the outage. Typically, this can mean a wait of up to an hour before we start the generator. Storms, accidents and other work in the area can vary the response time.

 

Spur fuses

Spurs come off a main electricity line and supply a group of customers. We have installed spur fuses on nine spurs which come off the Mataikona segment of the electricity feeders. This means if there’s a fault on these spur lines, affecting a few customers, it won’t trip the entire main line, which would result in potentially hundreds of properties being without power. 

 

Blairlogie backfeed

There is now a second option for power suppy to Langdale, Tīnui, Riversdale Beach, Mangapakeha, Castlepoint and Mataikona.These communities are now able to have their power suppled by another power line (the Blairlogie feeder) if an outage affects their power line. 

 

Latest project update

Thursday, August 15, 2024
We’re planning future work to improve the reliability and quality of power supply for our customers in the Tīnui and East Coast community. Click the link above to read some of the upcoming work that is planned.

Stay informed and be involved

Contact our community team to provide feedback, ask questions or arrange a meeting.

community@powerco.co.nz

 

At a glance


Early 2024

Installed backup generators at Castlepoint and Riversdale Beach.

Installed spur fuses on nine spurs which come off Mataikona feeder.

 

Late 2024

Tree cutting to clear vegetation away from lines on Castlepoint feeder.

 

2025-26

Seven sets of line fault indicators to be installed on Castlepoint feeder.

 

2025

Renew 2.2km of poles, crossarms and conductor on Masterton-Castlepoint Rd (Castlepoint feeder).

 

2028

Renew 2.5km of poles, crossarms, conductor on Tīnui Valley Rd (Castlepoint feeder).