{"id":11802,"date":"2026-04-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11802"},"modified":"2026-04-05T20:55:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-05T08:55:34","slug":"1-1b-upgrade-to-strengthen-cook-strait-power-link","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/?p=11802","title":{"rendered":"$1.1b Upgrade to Strengthen Cook Strait Power Link"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The Commerce Commission is proposing to approve Transpower\u2019s plan to replace and expand the ageing undersea electricity cables that connect the North and South Island power networks \u2014 a project carrying a major capital allowance of <strong>$1.1386 billion<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The draft decision covers the first stage of a two\u2011part upgrade to the high\u2011voltage direct current (HVDC) link, including replacing the existing submarine cables and installing an additional fourth cable. The upgrade also includes replacing the HVDC control system, which manages power flow between the islands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If approved, the project would protect current transfer capacity and add <strong>an extra 200 MW<\/strong>, strengthening New Zealand\u2019s national security of supply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Associate Commissioner Nathan Strong says the HVDC link is \u201ccritical electricity transmission infrastructure\u201d and essential for both reliability and the country\u2019s renewable energy ambitions.<br>\u201cInstalling a fourth cable at the same time unlocks an additional 200 MW of capacity, which can reduce long\u2011term electricity market costs and enable the development of lower\u2011cost renewable generation in the South Island,\u201d he says. \u201cThis has been shown to provide a long\u2011term benefit to consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The existing cables, installed in 1991, are nearing the end of their operational life. As they age, reliability declines and the risk of failure increases \u2014 an outage that would take significant time to repair and could drive up electricity costs for households and businesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Transpower is seeking early approval so it can secure manufacturing slots with the cable supplier, avoiding delays that would erode consumer benefits. The company has also identified the need for upgrades to supporting infrastructure, including seismic strengthening at termination stations and replacing the Miramar spare\u2011cable storage facility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Construction is expected to begin after 2028, with installation in the early 2030s. The investment would be added to Transpower\u2019s regulated asset base and recovered over several decades under the benefits\u2011based pricing model, meaning costs are shared between electricity consumers and generators.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Commission is now seeking public feedback before making a final decision.<br><strong>Submissions close 4pm, 29 April 2026<\/strong>, with cross\u2011submissions due <strong>13 May 2026<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More information is available on the Commission\u2019s website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Commerce Commission is proposing to approve Transpower\u2019s plan to replace and expand the ageing undersea electricity cables that connect the North and South Island power networks \u2014 a project carrying a major capital allowance of $1.1386 billion. The draft decision covers the first stage of a two\u2011part upgrade to the high\u2011voltage direct current (HVDC)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[987,113,988],"coauthors":[709],"class_list":{"0":"post-11802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-zealand","8":"tag-cook-strait","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-transpower"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11804,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11802\/revisions\/11804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11802"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cvnznews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcoauthors&post=11802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}