The Kawerau Power Station is a 100-megawatt
geothermal power plant
Geothermal power is electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation is currently used in 2 ...
located just outside the town of
Kawerau
Kawerau is a town in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated 100 km south-east of Tauranga and 58 km east of Rotorua. It is the seat of the Kawerau District Council, and the only town in Kawerau Distri ...
in the
Bay of Plenty Region of
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. 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. The station is the largest single generator geothermal plant in New Zealand.
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. 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.
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
A process is a series or set of activities that interact to produce a result; it may occur once-only or be recurrent or periodic.
Things called a process include:
Business and management
*Business process, activities that produce a specific se ...
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.
Gallery
File:Steam Separator Kawerau Power Plant NZ.jpg, Steam separator
File:Borefield at Kawerau NZ.jpg, Borefield
File:Turbine Hall Kawerau New Zealand.jpg, Turbine hall
File:Kawerau Geothermal Power Plant Control Room.jpg, Control room
See also
*
Geothermal power in New Zealand
Geothermal power in New Zealand is a small but significant part of the energy generation capacity of the country, providing approximately 17% of the country's electricity
References
External links
New Zealand Geothermal Association (Inc.)Application for consent to build the new plantProposed site for the Kawerau plant
{{Mercury Energy, state=autocollapse
Geothermal power stations in New Zealand
Buildings and structures in the Bay of Plenty Region
Kawerau District
Whakatane Graben
Taupō Volcanic Zone