Genesis & Schneider to modernise Huntly switchboards

Genesis Energy and Schneider Electric are upgrading six critical switchboards at Huntly Power Station in a retrofit project intended to extend the equipment's life by 15 to 20 years.

The project will replace protection, control and monitoring equipment while keeping much of the existing switchboard structure in place. This avoids full renewal of the boards and limits the need for major civil works, cable replacement and building changes.

Huntly, with 1170MW of generation capacity, is New Zealand's largest power station. It remains a significant part of the country's electricity system, particularly when renewable generation is under pressure.

The switchboards support both the generating units and the station services needed to keep the plant running. An engineering assessment found that much of the physical infrastructure could remain in service, allowing spending to focus on equipment that needed updating.

According to Genesis and Schneider, retrofit projects of this kind can typically cut costs by 30 to 50 per cent compared with full replacement. They also reduce downtime by retaining existing structures and avoiding broader reconstruction work.

The work comes as New Zealand faces broader pressure to invest in electricity infrastructure. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment has said higher electricity demand through to 2050 will require investment in new generation and networks running into many tens of billions of dollars.

Against that backdrop, the Huntly upgrade points to a model in which operators seek to extend the life of existing assets rather than replace entire systems. The project will also move the station to a digital platform that gives engineers greater visibility over asset performance and helps identify faults earlier.

Updated protection and control systems will also be introduced, including high-speed arc-flash protection, to reduce equipment damage and improve worker safety.

Genesis said the ability to schedule the work around plant operations was central to the decision, given Huntly's role in supporting national electricity supply.

"Modernising infrastructure of this scale is not simply a matter of replacing old equipment with new," said Jane Bydder, General Manager of Engineering and Projects at Genesis Energy.

"We need to improve the safety, reliability and capability of the plant while continuing to manage its availability for the electricity system. The solution presented by Schneider means we can undertake the work in stages and maintain Huntly's role in security of supply for our customers and the national grid," Bydder said.

Schneider said the project reflects a broader question for infrastructure owners: how to renew ageing assets while meeting higher expectations for reliability, safety and digital oversight.

It is the company's first retrofit project of this scale in New Zealand, although it has carried out similar programmes in other countries. The two companies are also examining whether the same approach could be used at other sites.

"There is an enormous amount of value already embedded in New Zealand's existing infrastructure. The question for asset owners is not simply whether something is reaching the end of its lifespan, but which parts genuinely need replacing and which can continue to serve us," said Ollie Hill, Country President at Schneider Electric New Zealand.

"New Zealand needs new energy infrastructure, but we also need to get more from the infrastructure we already have. Huntly is a practical example of how targeted modernisation can improve the capability of an existing asset without automatically defaulting to wholesale replacement," Hill said.