Powerco
| Industry | Energy |
|---|---|
| Predecessor | Taranaki Energy Limited |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | New Plymouth, New Zealand |
| Services | Electricity distribution Natural gas distribution |
Number of employees | 520 full-time equivalent |
| Website | www.powerco.co.nz |
Powerco is the largest dual-energy distribution company in New Zealand by length, and is one of only two dual-energy (electricity and gas) distributors in the country.
Its networks are located in the North Island of New Zealand.
Powerco is owned by Australian companies Queensland Investment Corporation and AMP Limited.[1]
Business
[edit]Powerco is a dual-energy distributor. Its role is to bring the gas and electricity delivered by the transmission networks Transpower (for electricity) and Firstgas (for gas) from the gas fields and power stations where it's generated, through its distribution networks, to customers.
Powerco owns and operates 28,935 km of electricity lines and cables, and 6,227 km of gas pipes. Over 900,000 customers are connected to its networks across 345,000 individual electricity connections and 112,000 individual gas connections.
Its electricity network covers:
- Coromandel to South Waikato
- Bay of Plenty: Tauranga and Mount Maunganui
- Taranaki
- Whanganui and Rangitīkei
- Manawatū
- Wairarapa
Its gas network covers:
- Taranaki
- Hawke's Bay
- Manawatū
- Porirua and Hutt Valley
- Wellington
Key dates
[edit]- April 1993 - New Plymouth Energy (the electricity division of the New Plymouth District Council) merges with Taranaki Electricity (former Taranaki Electric Power Board) to become Taranaki Energy Limited.[2]
- 1994 - Taranaki Energy acquired the Hawera Gas Company.[2]
- October 1995 - Taranaki Energy Limited merges with Wanganui-based Powerco (the former Wanganui Electric Power Board) to become Powerco Limited.[2]
- September 1997 - Powerco acquires Hawera based Egmont Electricity.[2]
- April 1998 - Government pass Electricity Industry Reform Act. PowerCo decided to become a "network business" (or lines company), and the following changes are made:
- Electricity Retail Business (customer base) sold to Genesis Power
- Gas Retail Business sold to Natural Gas Corporation
- Natural Gas Corporation's Taranaki gas networks sold to Powerco
- Powerco's five hydro power stations sold to TrustPower
- Powerco purchases Wairarapa Electricity's network business (formerly part of the Wairarapa Electric Power Board)
- August 2000 - Powerco merged with CentralPower (itself formed by the merger of CentralPower (for former Manawatu-Oroua Power Board) and ElectroPower, the former electricity division of Palmerston North City Council).[2]
- June 2001 - Powerco purchases the Hutt Valley and Porirua gas networks from AGL.[3]
- February 2002 - Powerco purchases the electricity assets of United Networks Limited in Tauranga, Eastern and Southern Waikato, Thames and Coromandel, plus gas networks in Wellington, Horowhenua, Manawatū and Hawke's Bay.[4]
- 2004 - Powerco purchased Siemens Energy Services' Tauranga based contracting division
- November 2005 - Powerco sold its New Zealand field services contracting business to Tenix Alliance
- 2008 - Divestment of Powerco Australia Group (Tasmania gas distribution) to Babcock & Brown Infrastructure
Electricity network statistics
[edit]| Parameter | Value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total network | Eastern network (Tauranga, Coromandel and South Waikato) |
Western network (Taranaki, Whanganui, Manawatu and Wairarapa) | ||
| Total circuit length | 28,935 km | 10,993 km | 17,942 km | |
| 50kV and 66kV | 169 km | 169 km | – | |
| 33 kV | 1,612 km | 532 km | 1,080 km | |
| 22 kV | 122 km | – | 122 km | |
| 6.6kV to 11kV | 16,781 km | 6,051 km | 10,730 km | |
| Single wire earth return (SWER) | 92 km | 69 km | 23 km | |
| Low voltage (<1kV) | 10,159 km | 4,172 km | 5,986 km | |
| Street lighting | 3,067 km | 1,689 km | 1,378 km | |
| Customer connections | 345,000 | |||
| System maximum demand | 986 MW | 526 MW | 464 MW | |
| System electricity delivered | 4,994 GWh | 2,734 GWh | 2,260 GWh | |
Gas network statistics
[edit]| Parameter | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Total network | ||
| Total pipeline length | 6,227 km | |
| Intermediate pressure (700–2000 kPa) | 274 km | |
| Medium pressure (7–700 kPa) | 5,940 km | |
| Low pressure (<7 kPa) | 14 km | |
| Customer connections | 113,478 | |
| System maximum demand | 23,554 GJ per day | |
| System gas delivered | 8,625 TJ | |
References
[edit]- ^ "Powerco NZ Holdings Limited". Companies Register. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e "Powerco Limited". www.powerco.co.nz. Archived from the original on 11 May 2001. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Powerco Purchases AGL Hutt Valley and Porirua Basin Gas Network". www.powerco.co.nz. Archived from the original on 27 February 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Powerco completes integration of UnitedNetworks assets on time and under forecast". www.powerco.co.nz. Archived from the original on 13 April 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
- ^ "Electricity disclosure 1 April 2021 - 31 March 2022" (PDF). 2022. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ "Gas disclosure 1 October 2021 - 30 September 2022" (PDF). Retrieved 7 October 2018.