ÅŒhau A is a power station operated by
Meridian Energy
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and i ...
in the South Island of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
.
It is located on the artificial ÅŒhau canal. The dam is fed by water from
Lake ÅŒhau
Lake ÅŒhau is a lake in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. The Hopkins River, New Zealand, Hopkins and Dobson River, New Zealand, Dobson rivers fed into the northern end of Lake ÅŒhau. These rivers have their headwaters in ...
and
Lake Pukaki
Lake Pukaki () is the largest of three roughly parallel alpine lakes running north–south along the northern edge of the Mackenzie Basin on New Zealand's South Island. The others are Lakes Tekapo and Ōhau. All three lakes were formed when the ...
and spills into the artificial
Lake Ruataniwha
Lake Ruataniwha is an artificial lake in the Mackenzie Basin in the South Island of New Zealand. It was formed in 1977–1981 as part of the Waitaki hydroelectric project. It lies on the traditional boundary of the Canterbury and Otago provinces ...
.
[Meridian Energy, ''Introducing ÅŒhau A'' brochure]
ÅŒhau A has a net head of . It is part of the Waitaki hydro scheme which consists of eight power stations operated from a control centre near
Twizel
Twizel () is the largest town in the Mackenzie District, in the Canterbury Region of the South Island of New Zealand. The town was founded in 1968 to house construction workers on the Upper Waitaki Hydroelectric Scheme. Today, Twizel is a ser ...
. Construction of the power station commenced in 1971.
See also
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ÅŒhau B
ÅŒhau B is a power station operated by Meridian Energy in the South Island of New Zealand.
It is a twin station with ÅŒhau C and is part of the Waitaki hydro scheme which consists of eight power stations operated from a control centre near Twi ...
*
ÅŒhau C
ÅŒhau C is a power station operated by Meridian Energy in the South Island of New Zealand.
It is a twin station with ÅŒhau B and is part of the Waitaki hydro scheme which consists of eight power stations operated from a control centre near T ...
*
List of power stations in New Zealand
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
Electricity sector in New Zealand
The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy, such as Hydroelectricity, hydropower, geothermal energy, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. As of 2021, the country generated 81.2% of its electricity from renewabl ...
References
Further reading
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External links
Meridian Energy- power station information
Energy infrastructure completed in 1980
Hydroelectric power stations in New Zealand
Buildings and structures in the Canterbury Region
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