9 February 2023
New substation to power up Mangawhai
More than ever people and companies are seeing Northland as a great place to live and do business, and this is particularly so in Mangawhai.
Traditionally a small seaside settlement with a large proportion of holiday homes, in recent years Mangawhai has expanded dramatically and now boasts a growing community with many full-time residents.
The area has seen a swell in new subdivisions and other developments, with many more in the planning stage. Northpower Network’s Chief Operating Officer Josie Boyd says Northpower has been working on plans to support the growing demand for electricity in the area. “In order to provide electrical capacity to cover the growth we have reached the stage where we now need to build a new substation in Mangawhai,” Ms. Boyd says.
The plans are for a 15-megawatt substation located within the Mangawhai Central development area, with a total project value of around $10 million. This substation will initially be able to power over 7,500 homes and provide additional backup to customers supplied from the Mangawhai North substation.
The substation has been designed to fit in with the surroundings and will consist of a modern tilt slab building that will house all the electrical equipment. From the outside, the substation will look modern and fresh with landscaping designed to blend in with the surrounding development.
“The substation will be built with room to grow and have space within the building to house an additional transformer, meaning as Mangawhai grows, we can expand our capacity to keep up,” Ms. Boyd says.
Along with the substation, new high-voltage lines to the area will be installed to connect the new substation to the existing Mangawhai North substation, providing important backup and greater resiliency to the electricity supply in the area. All the work is being done by Northpower with the help of Northland contractors. Work on the new Mangawhai substation will begin in December 2022 and is due to be completed next year. There will be an opportunity for the community to tour the substation before it is commissioned.