Milton Switching Station officially opened
Orion has marked another milestone in its major works programme to upgrade its electricity network with the official opening of the Milton Street Switching Station.
The opening was celebrated with the project’s many partners at an event on the site on Monday morning.
“This programme of work is the largest cable project Orion has ever undertaken. This section is the first project in a programme of work to replace older oil-filled power cables in the city. The switching station allows us to switch between power circuits meaning that we have alternatives in an outage and can restore power quicker,” says Orion GM Electricity Network Steve Macdonald.
“They’ve also been designed to carry the capacity needed as our region continues to evolve and grow.”
On the outside of the new switching station building, artist Hori-Te-Ariki Mataki from Ariki Creative designed a special piece of cultural art telling the story of the natural environment of Ōpāwaho Heathcote River. Ōpāwaho was also an important travel route connecting peninsular settlements with Ōtakaro and north to Kaiapoi.
“The inspiration behind the design came from Te Ngāi Tūāhuriri. Ōpāwaho was an important mahinga kai, or source of plentiful food, the design incorporates different elements of flora and fauna, particularly tuna (eels), pātiki (flounder), and inaka (whitebait),” says Hori.
The Milton Street switching station is a purpose-built, secure building housing high voltage switchgear and is located next to Faraday Street. Native trees and shrubs have also been planted around the switching station, to enhance biodiversity on the site and complement the tukutuku pattern on the building’s facade. Information boards on the site share the kōrero behind the artwork.
Work is set to begin in 2025 on the next stage of the project to upgrade the city’s underground electricity cable, a section spanning from Milton to Halswell via Hoon Hay.