News & Media

Alpine Energy and NZRFG stakes strong claim for fibre rollout

29 January, 2010

Alpine Energy, a member of the New Zealand Regional Fibre Group (NZRFG), plans to partner with Government to create an extensive ultra-fast fibre broadband network for South Canterbury.
Subject to Alpine Board and Shareholder approval and securing a mutually acceptable agreement with Government, Alpine hopes to begin establishing a fibre network this year.
Initially the rollout will focus on ‘lighting up’ Timaru as this is a key area identified for Government support and funding.
Alpine would eventually like to see fibre rolled out between all South Canterbury towns and communities.
Chief Executive Andrew Tombs says Alpine’s vision sees fibre rolled out linking Twizel, Tekapo, Fairlie, Albury, Timaru, Geraldine, Rangitata, Orari, Winchester, Temuka, Pareora, St Andrews, Mikikihi, Studholme, Waimate, and Glenavy.
“The Timaru and South Canterbury region provides a real opportunity for measured productivity improvement through the roll out of fibre,” says Mr Tombs.
Communications Minister, Hon Steven Joyce wants 75% of New Zealanders to have access to fibre to the door within 10 years. He is also planning to front with $300 million to ensure a fibre spread into rural New Zealand.
However, the Government must first select partners to work with and Alpine and the NZRFG wants to be an integral part of that mix.
Alpine today, along with other members of the NZRFG has submitted a response to the Government’s Invitation to Participate.
Alpine and the NZRFG are looking forward to working with the Government to achieve its ultra-fast fibre broadband objectives.

- Andrew Tombs

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Cables to be tested to find out cause of outage

26 November 2009

By JEFF TOLLAN - The Timaru Herald
Charred cables from one of Alpine Energy 's oldest substations will be tested to find the cause of the district-wide power cut.
Tuesday's outage left more than 20,000 South Canterbury people fending for themselves, unable to use toasters, jugs, lights or electric razors.
About 5am there was an explosion at the back of one of 17 feeder units in the Timaru substation on Old North Rd.
Alpine Energy chief executive Andrew Tombs said the cause of the fault was unknown. The current running through the unit jumped from about 100 amps to about 20,000 amps. "If you had been standing near there you probably would have felt something through your shoes," he said.
Repairs – and the return of power – were delayed till toxic smoke was cleared from the building.
Two of three cables running to Washdyke were affected by the fault, which delayed the return of power to the industrial area.
Mr Tombs said it was unknown why the fault occurred when the load should have been low.
"There's nothing obvious that any of us can point our fingers at as to where it faulted."
The two damaged cables that ran into the back of the feeder cabinet would be sent to the manufacturer for testing, he said.
From April 1 to the end of last month there have been 75 power cuts, though Mr Tombs said that was under the target Alpine set. Most were caused by a third party digging up cables.
It did not mean the end was nigh for the region's electricity infrastructure, he added.
"The assets are still strong and still have a lot of life left in them.
"There's no doubt that there are pockets of our network that are coming towards the end of their life, but we haven't gone beyond that point of no return."
Mr Tombs said Alpine had more than doubled its expenditure, to about $20 million, to replace and upgrade the ageing assets, many within five years.

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Upper South Island cuts peak power demand

29 October 2009

Eight upper South Island electricity distribution networks are collaborating to reduce peak demand on their networks, which is lessening the load on the New Zealand transmission system and putting downward pressure on transmission costs and wholesale electricity prices.
New Zealand’s first regional load management controller began as a two-year trial project at the start of the 2009 winter and is estimated to have reduced load at peak times by about 30MW during the winter period – the equivalent of removing about 10,000 homes from the national grid, or all households in Ashburton.
The controller, based in the Orion network control room in Christchurch, has been developed to monitor the load on upper South Island networks in real time. During periods of high electricity demand, the controller uses “ripple” signals to cooperatively control household hot water cylinders throughout the region – working to service level targets to ensure an adequate and consistent supply of hot water to customers.
View the following links to read media coverage about the load control project:

• Trial sees power companies save cash - Nelson Mail
• Upper South Island load management trial delivering real benefits - Energy News website
• Upper South Island cuts peak power demand - Scoop online news website

 Easing pressure on national grid
This control reduces congestion on the national grid and avoids bringing forward costly new grid investment just to meet periods of peak demand. Also, when the transmission system is constrained due to a grid emergency, the controller can remove load from the grid in a managed and coordinated manner – avoiding power outages which might otherwise have been necessary.
The electricity distribution networks participating in the upper South Island controller project are Network Tasman, Marlborough Lines, MainPower, Orion, Buller Electricity, Westpower, Electricity Ashburton and Alpine Energy .
Industry cooperation a sensible move
Orion CEO Roger Sutton says his central Canterbury network has been successfully using ripple control to actively manage its electrical load for a number of decades. By reducing demand during peak loading times, distribution networks are able to delay the costly investment needed to increase their network capacity – and avoid passing on these costs to retailers and in turn the public.
“It makes a great deal of sense for electricity networks to work together to reduce peak load on a regional basis,” Mr Sutton says. “We’ve had encouraging early results from the trial controller – our collaborative efforts over just one winter could delay transmission investment in our region by one to two years. This puts downward pressure on transmission and wholesale prices, and also electricity prices for customers,” he adds.
On the coldest days in winter when electricity load is high, the upper South Island transmission grid operates close to full capacity. To meet load growth in the short term, Transpower plans to continue to implement relatively small and low cost upgrades to the grid. In the long term, in the absence of new generation in the upper South Island, more transmission capacity into this region will be required.
Innovative approach, says Transpower
Transpower’s General Manager System Operations, Kieran Devine, says industry cooperation in load management enhances Transpower’s ability to manage the grid when operating at full capacity.
“By managing peak demand well, electricity networks can provide some insurance against the risks of transmission build delays and high demand growth, and in some cases may allow deferral of transmission investment. We funded the upper South Island load controller project to see if such an innovative approach can realise such benefits, and whether such an approach could be extended to other regions. We’re pleased with the progress of the initiative to date,” Mr Devine says.
The upper South Island load controller trial is scheduled to end in April 2011, however the early success of the trial indicates that the controller is likely to operate beyond this period.
Further benefits are likely from ongoing load control coordination by the distribution networks.

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Full circle for Dunedin man

17th June 2009

By FLEUR COGLE - The Timaru Herald
A Dunedin man is taking on one of South Canterbury's biggest jobs chief executive officer of Alpine Energy .
Andrew Tombs, 43, will assume the chief executive job at a time when Alpine Energy is embarking on a significant upgrade of its infrastructure.
Many of Alpine's assets its transformers, poles and conductors are nearing the end of their lifespans.
"It's a time when we have got quite a heavy spend ahead of us. [That] may seem quite strange at a time when people are talking about downturn," Mr Tombs said.
The work is unavoidable, however.
Alpine's acting chief executive Eoin Powell said decisions made by the company today would affect the reliability of electricity for future generations.
"The trouble with electricity is you can't just put something in the ground for tomorrow," Mr Powell said. Planning needed to take into account growth in five to 10 years.
A secure supply of electricity was necessary to ensure economic growth in the region and demand for electricity had increased, driven by the irrigation and dairy industries.
Transpower, which owns the country's transmission grid, is investigating what development needs to happen in the Lower Waitaki area, while Alpine has already started building a new grid exit point at Bells Pond the point where the company accesses electricity from Transpower to improve the security of supply in the lower Waitaki area.
Alpine Energy chairman Ian Bowen said the company undertook an extensive national search to find a replacement for former chief executive Greg Skelton, who left earlier this year.
Mr Tombs had the capability to managing the company's capital expenditure programme, Mr Bowen said.
Mr Tombs has been managing Powerco/Tenix Alliance and Tenix Alliance NZ, from just outside Auckland, but his experience within the electricity industry has taken him over the North Island.
The move to Timaru will bring him back to the South Island, something the Dunedin-born man said created "a sense of a full circle for me".
His career started at Dunedin Electricity, and he has worked for Transpower, Unison Networks, Otago Power and most recently Tenix Alliance.
"I'm proud and very much looking forward to be part of an organisation that has such a rich and deep heritage. I'm also looking forward to building on Alpine's solid performance to date and securing value for future generations of Alpine consumers and stakeholders."
Small centre enthusiasm and spirit was another attraction of the job, Mr Tombs said. He had appreciated and admired the Taranaki "hard core, go the `Naki' spirit" alive in that region when he lived there, and looked forward to working in another area where community pride was strong.
"I'm looking forward to that provincial attitude."
Mr Tombs spent time last Friday meeting staff at Alpine Energy and will take over the job on July 20.
The move to the South Island also puts him closer to his family.
His mother was "over the moon" about the move, he said.

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