The Te Mihi Power Station is a 166 MW

geothermal power 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 ...

station owned and operated by

Contact Energy Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation, electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity retailing, electricity, natural gas, broadband and Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG. It is the second- ...

, located north of Taupo in

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

resource consent A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...

for the power station was "called in" by the Minister for the Environment

Trevor Mallard Trevor Colin Mallard (born 17 June 1954) is a New Zealand politician and member of the Labour Party. First elected to Parliament in 1984, he was Speaker of the New Zealand House of Representatives from 2017 until 2022. Mallard was a Cabinet m ...

under the terms of the

Resource Management Act The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Zea ...

. The appointed Board of Enquiry granted the consent with a set of stipulated conditions. Te Mihi Power Station uses geothermal energy from the

Wairakei Wairakei is a small settlement, and geothermal area a few kilometres north of Taupō, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, on the Waikato River. It is part of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and features several natural geysers, hot pool ...

geothermal field, which lies in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. It is part of a plan to gradually replace the

Wairakei Power Station The Wairakei Power Station is a geothermal power station near the Wairakei Geothermal Field in New Zealand. Wairakei lies in the Taupo Volcanic Zone. History The power station was built in 1958, the first of its type (wet steam) in the world, ...

which will be phased out of production. With Te Mihi in operation, output from Wairakei is decreased by approximately 45 MW, resulting in a net increase of about 114 MW. The project was designed and constructed by a joint venture of

McConnell Dowell McConnell Dowell is a major infrastructure construction company founded in New Zealand in 1961. In 2003 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Aveng, which is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa. History McConnell Dowell was ...

SNC-Lavalin SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. is a Canadian company based in Montreal that provides engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to various industries, including mining and metallurgy, oil and gas, environment and water, infrastructure, a ...

and

Parsons Brinckerhoff WSP USA, formerly WSP, Parsons Brinckerhoff and Parsons Brinckerhoff, is a multinational engineering and design firm with approximately 14,000 employees. WSP stands for Williams Sale Partnership. The firm operates in the fields of strategic con ...

. The plant includes two 83 MW steam turbines supplied by Toshiba. The project cost $623 million and was officially opened in August 2014. Te Mihi Separator Pad

References

External links

* {{Electricity generation in Waikato Energy infrastructure completed in 2014 Geothermal power stations in New Zealand Taupō District Buildings and structures in the Taupo District 2014 establishments in New Zealand

See also

References

External links