Airport Business Park Powered for Future

Airport Business Park Powered for Future

12 March 2013 – Hawke’s Bay Airport Business Park is powered for the future, with local electricity company Unison Networks completing construction of a new, dedicated power supply and ultra-fast fibre broadband network for the Park.

Tenants of the Business Park, which is set to cover 20ha at full scale, will have access to UnisonFibre’s high-speed fibre network thanks to a creative engineering solution that allowed Unison to extend its fibre and electricity services across the Ahuriri Estuary.

Unison Group Chief Executive Ken Sutherland said the build was the largest project Unison had undertaken to date, and involved input from across the civil, electrical and fibre divisions of the business, as well as a number of sub-contractors.

“This project has seen Unison partner with other Hawke’s Bay contractors to create a solution for laying electricity and fibre cables across the Ahuriri Estuary, resulting in the design and installation of a 140-metre, 33-tonne steel structure attached to the Expressway bridge.”

At full scale, the Business Park will have capacity for up to 100,000 square metres of floor space. It is the first project in the Airport’s long-term growth strategy, which also includes the staged expansion of the terminal, upgraded infrastructure and security and working with the New Zealand Transport Agency to improve the Airport access off the State Highway.

Mr Sutherland said Unison worked closely with the Airport to ensure the supply of electricity and ultra-fast broadband could be easily upgraded to meet the future needs of the Business Park and Airport.

“In designing the new power supply and fibre network, we considered the long-term electricity and communication requirements of the Airport and Business Park.

“The facility is currently supplied by two 11kV cables and a hybrid fibre optic cable, but we have included a provision to add two additional 33kV cables and a second fibre cable, allowing for upgraded supply of both electricity and ultra-fast broadband as demand grows in the coming years.”

Hawke’s Bay Airport Business Development Manager Wayne Wootton said the Park was a world class development.

“Fibre is a business enabler and will provide our tenants with the ability to connect and communicate with speed and security.

“We are developing a Business Park which will have a variety of tenants, ranging from research and development, education, high-tech industry and tourism, to airside related business such as flight training, aircraft maintenance, freight facilities and other airline carriers.

“Throughout the design and installation process, Unison ensured we would have the infrastructure required to achieve this vision.”

The Business Park already hosts its first tenant; global power and automation technology corporation, ABB.
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