Edendale Supply Upgrade

Project Overview:

PowerNet is the electricity network management company delivering power to around 67,650 customers in Invercargill City, Southland, West Otago and Frankton near Queenstown.

Fonterra’s Edendale factory, the world’s largest dairy processing site is capable of handling 16 million litres of milk per day and 550,000 litres of cream. This is comparable to Ireland’s total daily milk production from March to September.

These volumes are due to a major expansion project with three new plants requiring an upgrade to the existing electrical infrastructure including a new 33/11 kV transformer located at Fonterra’s Edendale plant, a new 33 kV GIS circuit breaker at PowerNet’s Edendale Substation and new 33 kV cable.

Edison Delivery:

Edison was engaged by PowerNet to provide a project manager responsible for delivery of the construction and commissioning stages of the project including the following:

• Management of the full project lifecycle from detailed design through to installation and commissioning of the new transformer
• Coordination and reporting to Fonterra’s construction management team as part of the wider expansion
• Procurement of principal supplied items
• Installation of new 23 MVA, 33/11 kV transformer at Fonterra plant
• Installation of 33 kV power cable, fibre optic and control cable
• Installation of secondary systems
• Coordination with multiple contractors on site at Fonterra’s plant

During the execution of the project, the new 33 kV GIS circuit breaker was damaged in transit but due to contingency planning by the project team, an alternative supply method was quickly identified and implemented to ensure supply was provided to Fonterra by the agreed date.

Edison’s client side project management service, with a focus on ensuring all works were carried out safely, successfully minimising disruption to both the PowerNet network and Fonterra production.