Update 5 - Glenorchy, Storm as at 13:00h

The Glenorchy backup generator was up and running last night and provided supply to some customers in Glenorchy overnight. While the generator operated successfully and has sufficient capacity to supply the entire township, a fault on the line prevented us from restoring power to all customers. It was too dark for crews to locate the fault last night, so repair crews returned this morning and found and fixed the fault, enabling power to be restored to the entire Glenorchy township from mid-morning today.

Before we can switch Glenorchy from generator supply back to network supply, we need to locate and repair the remaining faults. Aurora Energy contractor line crews were in Glenorchy last night and back again this morning to locate faults and get the power back on. This morning, we flew the line by helicopter from Queenstown to Glenorchy and we have located two sites for repair (lines down at Rat’s Point and a broken cross arm at Bob’s Cove). Crews are attending and we expect to have Glenorchy back on network supply later today once repairs have been made. A brief outage will occur when supply is switched over from generator to network supply.

The helicopter is now flying the line in the upper reaches of Paradise and Routeburn and Kinloch to locate remaining faults there. Once the damage is identified, we will have a clearer picture of the repairs required and when we can restore power to these more remote customers.

Our crews are continuing their concerted effort to restore power to the Glenorchy area, however restoration efforts have been hampered by limited access, difficult terrain and extensive damage from downed trees.

ENDS