HVDC Pole 1 Recommissioning
Publications & Resources
- Presentations
- Marsh Report October 2007
- Marsh Report December 2007
- URS Report November 2008
- TransGrid Solutions Report
Presentations
Marsh Report October 2007
Transpower engaged Marsh Limited to conduct an assessment of risks associated with its Pole 1 HVDC electricity transmission assets and operations situated at its Benmore and Haywards substations. Marsh is one of the world's leading insurance brokers and strategic risk advisors. They are experts in risk identification and assessment, risk quantification and priorisation and risk mitigation and financing.
The Marsh report includes a risk assessment of consequences resulting from failure of the asset, insurability of the asset and an outline of possible mitigation measures that could be undertaken.
Risk Analysis - Pole 1 HVDC Link [994kB]
Marsh Report December 2007
This additional report from Marsh Ltd provides further detail on risk mitigation measures and associated costs of bringing Pole 1 back into service.
Marsh Report - December 2007 [1.3MB]
Clarification and confirmation of the validity of the models utilised and numerical outcomes set out in the Marsh Report.
URS Report November 2008
In 2008, Transpower’s proposal for a replacement Pole 1 HVDC was approved by the Electricity Commission. With commissioning planned for 2012, Transpower is now working through how to best manage the ongoing limited operation of the remaining half of Pole 1.
Following the findings of the two Marsh reports commissioned in 2007, Transpower committed to undertake further streams of work to assess the risks to Pole 1 from transformer failure or other events such as seismic activity or fire. One of these work streams includes a report commissioned with URS New Zealand Limited, to undertake a modelling assessment of a potential mercury release at the Haywards Substation in Wellington.
The URS report confirms that there is no offsite mercury risk to communities adjacent to Pole 1 assets, and that procedures are progressing to fully address any onsite exposure risk. A copy of the full URS report is available here.
URS Report - November 2008 [1.5MB]
TransGrid Solutions Report
As part of replacement planning for Pole 1 of the HVDC inter-island link, TransGrid Solutions (TGS) were engaged to advise on condition assessment, risk assessment, risk mitigation, contingency planning and decommission planning for the existing HVDC mercury arc valve (MAV) based Pole 1. TransGrid Solutions (TGS) provides expert technical consulting services in the field of power transmission technologies including HVDC transmission systems and are based in Winnipeg, Canada.
TGS is lead by Dr Mohamed Rashwan who has over 30 years experience in the field of power systems, HVDC transmission, and the application of power electronics and is recognised internationally as a world expert in the field. Dr.Rashwan is a Fellow of the IEEE and is currently Vice-Chairman of the Canadian National Committee of Cigre. Dr Rashwan has extensive experience in carrying out life extension and retirement investigations for mercury arc valve (MAV) HVDC installations in Canada.
Condition Assessment [2.0MB]
Risk Assessment [490kB]
Risk Mitigation [100kB]
Contingency Plan [68kB]
Decommissioning Plan [80kB]
Decommissioning Plan Appendices
Resource & Environment Management Report December 2007
This report identifies and evaluates the environmental risks of bringing Pole 1 back into service.