Kawerau Power Station

The Kawerau Power Station is a 100-megawatt geothermal power plant located just outside the town of Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. The power station is situated within the Kawerau geothermal field, which is part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Completed in July 2008 by Mighty River Power at a cost of NZ$300 million, the plant's capacity proved greater than expected.[1] The station is the largest single generator geothermal plant in New Zealand.[2]

Kawerau Power Station
CountryNew Zealand
LocationBay of Plenty Region
Coordinates38°3′47″S 176°43′38″E
StatusOperational
Commission date2008
Owner(s)Mercury Energy
Power generation
Nameplate capacity100 MW

Energy production

The Kawerau geothermal power station boosted the country's geothermal capacity by 25 percent and significantly increased local generation capacity in the Eastern Bay of Plenty.[3] The plant meets approximately one third of residential and industrial demand in the region and provides cost certainty to local industry including Norske Skog Tasman.[4]

The station uses a single Fuji turbine and steam from geothermal bores. The two phase fluid is flashed/separated twice to produce high and low pressure steam to feed the turbine.

The Kawerau field also supplies process steam to the Kawerau pulp and paper mill. This is used for process and power generation. Two small binary power plants use waste hot geothermal water for power generation. Kawerau is the world's premiere geothermal field.

A binary plant is also located west of the main power station. This station uses two phase fluid from one production well, KA24.

In June 2021, the main power station suffered a mechanical failure which resulted in an outage that was expected to extend until 31 August 2021.[5] [6]

  • Steam separator
    Steam separator
  • Borefield
    Borefield
  • Turbine hall
    Turbine hall
  • Control room
    Control room

See also

References
  1. "Mighty River Power's Kawerau power station now fully operational". Mighty River Power. 2 September 2008. Archived from the original on 14 October 2008. Retrieved 2009-01-04.
  2. Bradley, Grant (2 July 2008). "Full steam ahead for new Kawerau plant". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  3. Carr, Mathew; Evans, Gavin (5 January 2007). "Geothermal power moves ahead as reliable source of renewable energy". International Herald Tribune.
  4. "Mighty River Power News" (PDF). Mighty River Power. February 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-27.
  5. Gray, Jamie (9 June 2021). "Dry weather drives Mercury to second earnings downgrade". NZ Herald.
  6. "Market Summary for the week ended 13 June 2021" (PDF). Transpower. June 2021.
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