Far North Power Outage: 23,000+ Without Electricity
- Most people who have been without power for hours in the Far North have had their connection restored.
- Power was cut to more than 23,000 homes and businesses just after 5:20 PM on Thursday, with the outage covering the entire southern part of the district, including...
- in an update shortly before midnight, lines company Top Energy said it had progressively restored power to most households.
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Far North Power Outage: Restoration Efforts and Timeline
Table of Contents
What Happened?
Most people who have been without power for hours in the Far North have had their connection restored.
Power was cut to more than 23,000 homes and businesses just after 5:20 PM on Thursday, with the outage covering the entire southern part of the district, including the Bay of Islands, Kaikohe, South Hokianga, and Whangaroa.
in an update shortly before midnight, lines company Top Energy said it had progressively restored power to most households.
The lines company earlier said it was aiming to restore power to affected properties by midnight.
Cause of the outage
According to its outage center, the fault was on a sub-transmission feeder. Investigations showed half of the 33-kilovolt switchboard was damaged and could not be returned to service on Thursday night. Though, the other half of the switchboard had been salvaged.
Top Energy said capacity was reduced as it was currently running on its smallest transformer at kaikohe, meaning it could not guarantee full security of supply until repairs were completed.
A diesel generator was being used at Omania to support customers in the southern network.
Current Status and Conservation Request
It asked people to conserve power until Friday morning.
Future Repairs and Assessment
“We’ll regroup first thing tomorrow [friday] to assess the full extent of the damage. The damaged 33kV switchboard is approximately 10 years old; they have a normal life of about 50 years,” the company said.
“We need to confirm repair timelines and what replacement equipment may be required. The supplier will be working with us on site in the morning.”
Top energy workers at Kaikohe substation.
Photo: Supplied
Impact and Affected Areas
The outage impacted a wide geographical area, affecting both residential and commercial customers. The bay of Islands, a popular tourist destination, likely experienced disruptions to businesses and visitor services. Kaikohe,a major service town for the region,also faced significant challenges.
Affected Areas – Detailed List
- Bay of Islands
- Kaikohe
- South Hokianga
- Whangaroa
- [Further specific towns/suburbs could be added here if available]