Transpower said today that it welcomed the Electricity Commission's notice of intention to approve its proposal, worth up to $19 million.
The work includes building a new 110kV line between Reefton and Dobson, building a new capacitor bank at Hokitika and substation works to facilitate the new equipment.
Currently the region's capacity to transmit power is vulnerable to outages between Reefton and Atarau.
Transpower's general manager of grid development, , said that an upgrade would make the West Coast supply much more reliable and help meet anticipated demand from new dairy and mining ventures.
"This new demand is equivalent to an increase of about two thirds of the current peak load for the entire West Coast region," Mr George said.
Without the work, outages would worsen as demand for power increases by up to 30MW in the next 12 months.
Transpower is hopeful that the Electricity Commission will issue a final decision on the proposal later this month. If final approval is given, the upgrade should be completed by 2011.
