Application for new geothermal power station filed

31 July 2007

Application for new geothermal power station filed

Contact Energy today filed resource consent applications for its proposed Te Mihi geothermal power station, which will be located to the north of Taupo. At around 225 megawatts, the new plant will provide enough renewable, baseload electricity to power over 200,000 average homes.

Contact Chief Executive David Baldwin said it was pleasing to have the application filed.

“Prior to and since the public announcement of this project in February a great deal of work has gone into developing this proposal. The Te Mihi project is particularly exciting as it can contribute not only to a secure, reliable supply of electricity for all New Zealanders, but can also help cut carbon emissions from the electricity generation sector,” he said.

Mr Baldwin said the new Te Mihi power station could be generating its first electricity by 2011 and, in time, would replace the 50 year old Wairakei geothermal power station.

“The Te Mihi plant will be a modern geothermal power station that will more efficiently convert the Earth’s heat into renewable electricity. It will also significantly reduce the discharge of heat and geothermal trace elements into the Waikato River.

“The Te Mihi power station will be capable of generating 40 per cent more electricity than the existing Wairakei station. It will not however require any more geothermal fluid than that which is already permitted by Contact’s recently granted Wairakei resource consents.

“Over the course of the construction period the project is expected to inject up to $90 million into the Taupo economy.”

Mr Baldwin said that as geothermal energy was the only renewable form of baseload electricity, it had a critical role to play in deferring new thermal generation and contributing towards an increasingly renewable future.

Mr Baldwin said Contact had already started consulting with the local community, and this process would continue. He said anybody wanting to have a say on the project would have an opportunity to do so.

The Te Mihi power station is part of Contact’s plan to invest up to $2 billion in new renewable generation projects over the next five years. Contact plans to file resource consent applications for another geothermal power station at Tauhara in 2008 and will soon be making announcements on a wind farm development.

“Geothermal is New Zealand’s most reliable form of renewable electricity. It doesn’t depend on the weather and, as such, can help displace thermal generation.

“The Te Mihi development is an important part of delivering an increasingly renewable energy future for New Zealand.”

Detailed information on the Te Mihi project can be viewed at www.contactenergy.co.nz/temihi

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