Benmore Crescent in Manor Park, Lower Hutt, is named in homage to the Benmore Hydro Scheme in New Zealand’s South Island and its pivotal role in the country’s power infrastructure. The nearby Haywards Substation serves as a crucial hub in this network, receiving electricity via the Cook Strait cable directly from Benmore via the HVDC link. The HVDC transmission link serves as a vital integrator of power supply between the North and South Islands.
Built in 1965, this HVDC link set multiple global records; it was the world’s largest and longest transmission link of its kind at the time and incorporated the world’s largest submarine cable.