Hawaiian Electric rebuilds transmission line
A critical transmission line that serves as a back-up route of power to 11000 customers in West Maui is now online.
Image for illustration purposes.
USA, Hawaii: A critical transmission line that serves as a back-up route of power to 11000 customers in West Maui is now online after Hawaiian Electric rebuilt it along former routes in the Lahaina area with new steel and wood poles and electrical equipment. This rebuilding of interim overhead infrastructure is part of the recovery efforts in West Maui. The line helps to maintain reliable service, providing another route of energy delivery to Lahaina, Puukolii, Mahinahina, Napili, Kaanapali, and Kapalua.
Such lines are built for redundancy when more than one circuit serves larger areas. If one line or circuit goes out of service, the electricity path can be switched to an alternate route to continue to provide power to customers.
The work involved the planning, design, and installation of more than 70 new steel poles along with eight new wood poles, rated to current regulated utility safety standards. The steel poles replaced wood poles that were part of the former transmission and distribution route in the area. Some of the original wood poles were damaged during the August 2023 windstorm and wildfires.
The work was completed within an aggressive and accelerated timeframe since last November. Once the construction of the transmission lines was completed, a re-inspection and vegetation management protocol was performed, system protection settings were checked, and transmission and system engineers set up auto-transfer settings that help to increase the overall service reliability to the west side.
The upgrade of the line is just one part of Hawaiian Electric’s restoration efforts. The utility is also working on plans to assist in the interconnection of several temporary housing sites of more than 900 housing units in West Maui.
Source: Maui Recovers