Mighty River Power officially opens Ngatamariki geothermal plant
Pipes at Ngatamariki geothermal plant, New Zealand (source: Mighty River Power)
Alexander Richter
9 Oct 2013
New Zealand's Mighty River Power officially opens the 82 MW Ngatamariki geothermal power station near Taupo having invested around US$420 million into the project.
Last week, the Prime Minister of New Zealand Jon Key was in attendance of the opening of the Ngatamariki Geothermal Power Plant in Taupo on the North Island of New Zealand.
The plant with an installed capacity of 82 MW and took an investment of NZ$500 million ($415 million) to be built.
The partners to the project are Mighty River Power and Tauhara North No. 2 Trust, a Maori trust called iwi Ngati Tahu. The plant can provide electricity for 80,000 households and represents the largest binary geothermal power station today.
The plant derives stream from around 40 km of wells, with a depth of up to 3,000 meters and temperatures of up to 300 degrees Celsius.
Mighty River Power Chief Executive, Doug Heffernan, said: “with the addition of Ngatamariki, Mighty River Power now operated five geothermal plants that annually generate about 10% of New Zealand’s total electricity – equivalent to the generation of the Company’s nine stations in the Waikato Hydro System.
He said the Company’s geothermal investment, funded entirely from the Company’s cash flow and balance sheet, had diversified and strengthened Mighty River Power’s production base – with more than 40% of annual generation sales now coming for geothermal.
“This reliability of geothermal, as a major component of our portfolio, is a distinctive competitive strength for us in the New Zealand electricity market.” As the ‘premium’ renewable – operating 24/7 and not dependent on the weather – Dr Heffernan said geothermal generation also “delivers reliable, renewable energy for New Zealand’s long-term benefit.”
He said the Ngatamariki project was part of an important renaissance for geothermal led by Mighty River Power, which has seen considerable investment in high capital cost plant with low operating costs that is displacing more expensive fossil fuel generation – with Mighty River Power’s annual geothermal generation saving the country more than 3 million tonnes of carbon emissions every year, by displacing coal-fired generation.
An overview on New Zealand’s geothermal power plants can be found in the newly launched Think GEOENERGY Magazine, a preview can be found here.
Source: NZ Herald
