Lines company Counties Energy has enlivened a new $25m power supply project to meet the needs of the rapidly growing Pokeno area.

A new indoor 110-22kV substation was constructed in 2019/2020, with additional project works including undergrounding of existing 22kV feeders in the area and new 22kV feeders to meet the needs of Pokeno township, industrial park and the rapidly growing greenfield residential subdivisions.

Counties Energy Chief Executive Judy Nicholl says the company is proud to bring a quality power supply to the community that future-proofs the northern Waikato township, industrial park and wider rural area. 

“We’ve worked hard to offer Pokeno the only indoor substation in the region, a building designed to minimise visual impact on our community and deliver a safe and reliable power supply now and into the future. From concept to completion, the project was fast-tracked to keep up with ever-increasing industrial and residential demand. The entire network has been upgraded, with a total of 13km of new high voltage cabling installed.”

Large industrial consumers in the area include Hynds Pipe Systems and infant formula manufacturers Synlait Milk and Yashili New Zealand Dairy Company. The additional works ensures redundancy of supply for the area and has the capacity to enable further growth for industries within the Pokeno area.

A public open day was held for the local community before the substation went live in July 2020, with around 500 people taking guided tours through the new substation.

“The Open Day was a unique opportunity to open the gates and present this project to our community, our wider employees, our contractors, local iwi and our stakeholders before it went  ‘live’. We thank the wider Pokeno community, including the Pokeno Community Committee and Community Patrol and the Waikato District Council, for their support and understanding while we completed one of the largest projects in Counties Energy’s 95-year history,” Ms Nicholl says.

View the Pokeno Substation Public Open Day video here