Bigger Cook Strait cable mooted

Press, 24 July 1987, Page 4

Bigger Cook Strait cable mooted

PA Wellington The Electricity Corporation is investigating a limited expansion of the present inter-island power cable from Benmore in the South Island and across Cook Strait to the Haywards sub-station near Wellington. Increased capacity is needed to utilise the electricity expected to be available in the South Island after the Clyde power station is commissioned in 1989. Over recent years a number of options for increasing the inter-island electricity transmission capacity have been considered. “These have ranged from building a second link of 1000 MW to give a total of 1600 MW to modifying and expanding the existing link up to about 1200 MW,” said the corporation’s national grid manager, Mr Bob Thomson, yesterday. "Investigations are now concentrating on a modified and expanded link.

This is a substantially cheaper option than either its replacement or building a second one.” The present link has been in use since 1965 and has a capacity of 600 MW.

“One thousand megawatts appears to be the most appropriate total inter-island transmission capacity for the 19905, given the amount of electricity the corporation expects to be available in the South Island in a few years,” Mr Thomson said. “The most economical way of achieving this appears to be operating the existing direct current transmission line at higher loadings In conjunction with some new terminal plant connected to Benmore and Haywards and some additional cables across Cook Strait.”

Preliminary investigations indicated the proposed work would take about four years to complete and cost about $3OO million, Mr Thomson said.