State-owned grid operator Transpower says it has boosted the amount of power available to local lines companies in Hawke’s Bay and Tairāwhiti in the wake of Cyclone Gabrielle.
Local lines company Unison Networks said there were 40,800 homes without power in Hawke’s Bay, with 31,700 of these from Napier which is the area most impacted by the loss of Transpower’s flooded Redclyffe substation, near Taradale.
Follow live updates of Cyclone Gabrielle here
Transpower said it had implemented contingency plans and reconfigured part of the network to make 90 megawatts of power available to Unison Networks and Eastland Network across the region to reconnect some houses and businesses.
An initial assessment of the Redclyffe substation indicated that there was extensive damage after flood waters reached heights exceeding 1.5 metres inside the control room, Transpower said.