Explosion at substation causes power outage
An explosion at a Transpower substation left 63,000 households without power. The outage caused train delays, business disruption, and affected water supplies.
New Zealand
New Zealand, Wellington: An explosion at a Transpower substation left 63,000 households without power.
The outage caused train delays, business disruption, and affected water supplies.
Transpower chief executive Alison Andrew said the blackout was caused by a switching error during routine maintenance. “We will be doing a detailed investigation to find out if there is any damage to the equipment, and what we can learn from the incident,” Andrew explained.
No-one was hurt in the explosion and power was restored shortly after.
Some commuter trains were suspended due to glitches in the signalling and points system following the blackout. Services started to return to normal after a few hours.
The electricity cuts affected businesses in the Hutt Valley since all operating systems were down.
A spokesperson said generators at critical water pump stations and treatment plants were rapidly brought online, and mobile generators were being deployed to other stations when main power was restored.
Source: RNZ