Squeezing lines heads off power crisis

Transpower believes it has headed off a winter power crisis and says peak-time power cuts in the upper South Island are now extremely unlikely.

The solution has come from engineers on the Transpower-initiated Upper South Island Winter Security Working Party.

They have found a way to squeeze more from the lines without making the supply unstable.

At present, lines in the region can carry a maximum of 1030MW. The latest ploy involves commissioning more "inter-trip schemes" that will increase that capacity by a further 25MW and add up to 5MW more supply to Nelson, Marlborough and Buller.

- NZPA