Maui Platform Outages
Contact Energy’s chief executive, Mr Steve Barrett, commented today on the series of intermittent gas supply
interruptions from the Maui gas field production platform over the last 10 days.
“As a result of these unplanned disruptions to supply, Contact has from time to time been obliged to reduce or curtail
generation output from its gas-fired power stations.
“While we have done all that we can to increase generation from other sources, Contact has been unable to fully mitigate
the effects of these outages, which have been caused by factors outside Contact’s control,” Mr Barrett said.
“The impact of the gas disruptions earlier this week has been compounded by a temporary constraint on Contact’s hydro
generation capability from its Clutha facilities. This constraint resulted from planned maintenance work by Transpower
on the electricity transmission system.
“Contact is working closely with Transpower to manage the impact of any further gas interruptions.
The gas supply interruptions have caused significant disruption to Contact’s business, and that of some other large gas
and electricity users in New Zealand.
“The impact of these disruptions has been magnified by relatively limited information about their cause and the outlook
for their rectification. This information is crucial to allow industry participants to make contingency plans.”
Contact has registered its strong concerns about the Maui outages with the Crown, as our contractual supplier from the
Maui field, and with the field majority owner, Shell.
“We have emphasised the need for reliable supply from Maui and the unacceptable level of disruption that these frequent
and unplanned outages are causing.”