NTGA increases supply of geothermal process heat to Kawerau industrial partners
Kawerau geothermal complex with industrial partners, New Zealand (source: NTGA)
Alexander Richter
7 Oct 2019
Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets Ltd. (NTGA) has announced having increased supply of geothermal process heat to the Kawerau Industrial Complex in New Zealand with two customers, Waiu Dairy and Oji Fibre Solution.
In a release to ThinkGeoEnergy, Ngati Tuwharetoa Geothermal Assets Ltd. (NTGA), the world’s largest supplier of geothermal industrial process heat, announced having commenced supply to both Waiu Dairy and Oji Fibre Solutions at the Kawerau Industrial Complex, New Zealand.
Waiu Dairy, a joint venture between multiple local iwi organisations and Imanaka, a Japanese-owned company, currently uses around 4-6 t/hr of 16 bar(g) geothermal steam in its 900-kg an hour milk powder dryer. The current geothermal process heat used is equivalent to 11-17 GJ/hr of renewable iwi energy supply from NTGA’s clean steam (reboiler) plant. Waiu Dairy has room to expand its operations and NTGA has the geothermal process heat capacity to meet future demand.
Oji Fibre Solutions (OjiFS), a pulp, paper and packaging business with facilities in New Zealand and Australia operates the Tasman pulp mill in Kawerau. The mill already uses around 2.6 PJ of geothermal steam. NTGA now supplies an additional 20-50 t/hr of 12 bar(g) geothermal steam allowing OjiFS to replace a wood and coal-fired boiler. The new geothermal process heat supply is equivalent to 56-140 GJ/hr of renewable iwi energy from NTGA’s clean steam plant. It is a significant part of OjiFS’s Tasman Mill transformation project, which has reduced greenhouse gas emissions from the Mill by 10,000 tonnes of CO2(eq) per year.
Spence McClintock, Ngati Tuwharetoa Group CEO, said “It is encouraging to see the realisation of these two new customers as it is important not only for Ng?ti Tuwharetoa but the continued economic growth of Kawerau as a sustainable industrial hub for New Zealand.”
NTGA’s geothermal process heat supply business continues to enable the Kawerau Industrial Complex to transition to low-carbon energy sources and reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuels. NTGA’s geothermal process steam has 90% less carbon than fossil-based industrial energy sources.
Source: Company release
