PowerHubs for community energy resilience include EV charging ability

Powerco is installing hybrid Stand Alone Power Supply (SAPS) at targeted community buildings across its electricity network footprint to create new PowerHubs.

The first PowerHub will be at Akitio in the Tararua District and is expected to be installed before the end of the financial year, says Powerco which covers about 900,000 North Island customers.

“We believe using a bespoke SAPS unit and hardwiring it into a community venue for use in emergencies is a New Zealand first,” says Powerco electricity general manager Karen Frew.

The SAPS units, supplied by Base Power, will help communities prone to frequent and long power outages stay connected and access power as a community independently of the main power grid.

By connecting these new backup power systems to community buildings PowerHubs can provide essential services including charging capability for people during emergencies.

“Most of our target communities are already extremely resilient, being able to operate without power for long periods of time,” says Frew.

“PowerHubs will enhance the existing community resilience during emergencies and prolonged power outages – offering an extra tool in a community’s toolbox.”

Powerco has identified 20 high priority sites across its network and work is underway to scope the necessary specifications and involve communities in the design before these are prioritised.

Initially, PowerHubs are planned for Whanganui River, Coromandel and Tararua over the next couple of years.

The project goes back to post-Gabrielle meetings with various National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) groups on Powerco’s network who were looking to strengthen their storm resilience, says Powerco.

At the same time, work was underway at Powerco to understand vulnerabilities to the power supply across the network to better prioritise investment in resilience solutions, says Powerco.

A PowerHub hybrid SAPS supplies continued power supply during emergencies and power outages by using a combination of solar energy and diesel generation to charge a battery bank.

The stored energy then powers the building via an automatic changeover switch if there’s an outage, says Powerco.

The unit is housed in a three-metre container mounted on ground screws and hardwired to the building it’s adjacent to – becoming a PowerHub.

EVs and Beyond recently featured Powerco chief executive James Kilty’s planned move to Transpower.