Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity. Electricity is carried from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission voltage to medium voltage ranging between 2 kV and 33 kV with the use of transformers. Primary distribution lines carry this medium voltage power to distribution transformers located near the customer's premises. Distribution transformers again lower the voltage to the utilization voltage used by lighting, industrial equipment and household appliances. Often several customers are supplied from one transformer through secondary distribution lines. Commercial and residential customers are connected to the secondary distribution lines through service drops. Customers demanding a much larger amount of power may be connected directly to the primary distribution level or the subtransmission level.
Reefton is a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealand, some 80 km northeast of Greymouth, in the Inangahua River valley. Ahaura is 44 km south-west of Reefton, Inangahua Junction is 34 km to the north, Maruia is 63 km to the east, and the Lewis Pass is 66 km to the south-east.
The Stillwater Ngākawau Line (SNL), formerly the Stillwater–Westport Line (SWL) and the Ngakawau Branch, is a secondary main line, part of New Zealand's national rail network. It runs between Stillwater and Ngakawau via Westport on the West Coast of the South Island. It was one of the longest construction projects in New Zealand's history, with its first section, at the south end, opened in 1889, and the beginnings of the Ngākawau Branch, at its Westport end, in 1875. The full line was completed in 1942. The only slower railway projects were Palmerston North to Gisborne, 1872 to 1942, and the Main North Line to Picton, 1872 to 1945.
Neptune Bank Power Station was a coal-fired power station situated on the River Tyne at Wallsend near Newcastle upon Tyne. Commissioned in 1901 by the Newcastle upon Tyne Electric Supply Company, the station was the first in the world to provide electricity for purposes other than domestic and street lighting. It was also the first in the world to generate electricity using three-phase electrical power distribution at a voltage of 5,500 volts.
Hydroelectric power in New Zealand has been a part of the country's energy system for over 100 years and continues to provide more than half of the country's electricity needs. Hydroelectricity is the primary source of renewable energy in New Zealand. Power is generated the most in the South Island and is used most in the North Island.
The Coleridge Power Station is a hydroelectric facility at Lake Coleridge on the Rakaia River in Canterbury, New Zealand. The power station is owned and operated by Manawa Energy.
The Karāpiro Power Station is a hydroelectric power station at Karapiro on the Waikato River, in the North Island of New Zealand. The power station lies on Lake Karapiro, a major rowing regatta venue. Karāpiro is 30 kilometres (19 mi) south-east and upstream from the city of Hamilton and approx. 9 kilometres from Cambridge. It is the last of the eight hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River.
The Arnold Power Station is a hydroelectric facility fed from Lake Brunner on the Arnold River in West Coast, New Zealand, owned and operated by TrustPower. Commissioned in 1932, the plant is rated at 3 megawatts (4,000 hp) and has an average annual output of 25 gigawatt-hours (90 TJ).
The Cobb Power Station is a hydroelectric facility on the Cobb River, in the Tasman District of New Zealand. The power station is located in Upper Tākaka, 112 km (70 mi) northwest of Nelson. Annual generation is approximately 190 gigawatt-hours (680 TJ). The initial stages of the construction of the station began as a privately-funded scheme in 1935, but the investor failed to raise the necessary capital. The national government took over building the station and the first power was produced in 1944, operating as a run-of-river station. A storage dam was completed in 1954. The resulting hydro lake is the highest in the country and at 596 m (1,955 ft), the station has New Zealand's highest hydraulic head of any power station.
Doncaster Power Station refers to two coal-fired electricity generating stations situated in the centre of Doncaster in South Yorkshire, England. Doncaster A provided electricity to the town from 1900 to 1958, and the B station from 1953 to 1983.
Ātiamuri Power Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the third of eight hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River. The station can easily be seen from State Highway 1 between Taupō and Tokoroa.
Arapuni Power Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is owned and operated by Mercury Energy, and is the seventh and penultimate hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River. It is also the oldest currently generating, the first government-built, and the largest capacity single hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River. The two power houses that make up the Maraetai Power Station have a larger combined capacity however.
Alexander Walker Reid was a 19th-century New Zealand farmer, inventor, and entrepreneur. He was notable for making Stratford the second or third New Zealand town to have an electricity supply, for constructing the first steam-powered motor car in the country, and for creating an innovative milking machine.
Marlborough Lines Limited is an electricity distribution company, based in Blenheim, New Zealand. Marlborough Lines is responsible for subtransmission and distribution of electricity to approximately 26,000 customers in the Marlborough Region over a service area of 11,330 km2 (4,370 sq mi). The network includes approximately 3,400 km (2,100 mi) of power lines extending to some very isolated areas across the region, including the extremities of the Marlborough Sounds, which can only be reached by boat or helicopter.
The Pupu Hydro Power Scheme is a small hydroelectric power station near Tākaka in the Golden Bay region of the South Island of New Zealand. It opened in 1929 as the first power station in the region and was the first public electricity supply in Golden Bay. After closing in 1980 following damage to the generator, the power scheme was fully restored by the local Pupu Hydro Society and many volunteer groups over the course of seven years and re-opened in 1988, again supplying electricity to the national grid.
The Norwich power stations were a sequence of electricity generating stations that provided electric power to the City of Norwich and the wider area between 1893 and 1986. The first station in Duke Street began operating in 1893, a new power station at Thorpe was in service from 1926 to 1967, this was supplemented with a 'high pressure' station, 1937–1975, and finally a gas turbine station operated from 1964–1986.
Ribble Power Station was a coal-fired electricity generating station on the River Ribble in Penwortham near Preston, Lancashire, England. The station was built by the Corporation of Preston to replace a small privately-run generating station in the town. It supplied electricity to Preston and the surrounding area from 1923 until 1976. The station was expanded with new equipment in 1943–47 which remained in operation until the power station was closed in 1976 and was subsequently demolished.
Burnley power station supplied electricity to the town of Burnley, Lancashire from 1893 to 1958. The electricity station was owned and operated by Burnley Corporation prior to the nationalisation of the British electricity industry in 1948. It was redeveloped as demand for electricity grew and old plant was replaced, and had an ultimate generating capacity of 8 MW in the 1920s. The station closed in 1958.
Bristol power stations supplied electricity to the City of Bristol and the surrounding area from 1893 to 1959. Temple Back and Avonbank power stations were built by the Bristol Corporation which operated them up to the nationalisation of the British electricity supply industry in 1948.
Early street lights in New Zealand were first installed in major cities in the 1860s with Christchurch recording having 152 gas lamps throughout the city. With the shift to electric lights cities moved away from gas lamps and on to the incandescent lamps with the towns of Wellington (1889) and Reefton becoming the first cities in the southern hemisphere to have electric street lights. Other towns soon followed suit with the town of Brightwater adding five and Richmond adding ten street lights in 1911. During the mid 20th century a move towards fluorescent lamps was taken up. Pressing into the 21st century New Zealand likemuch of the industrialised world has been expanding the installation of LED lights, and have seen large savings. In modern times communities in New Zealand have turned their street lights off for multiple reasons including to save energy and to help protect local wildlife in particular the Westland petrel as well as reduce light pollution.
