The Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Power Station was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key on Saturday, at the close of a milestone week for renewable energy announcements.The $430 140MW station is a joint venture between Mighty River and the T
The Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Power Station was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key on Saturday, at the close of a milestone week for renewable energy announcements.
The $430 140MW station is a joint venture between Mighty River and the Tauhara North No. 2 Trust and has the capacity to generate three per cent of national electricity needs.
Two days prior to the opening, the joint venture partnership was awarded resource consent approval for Ngatamariki - a second new station north-east of Taupo.
Construction on the $400m 110MW project is expected to begin this year, to provide generation in time for winter in 2013.
"[Ngatamariki] really underscores our commitment to geothermal energy development in New Zealand and the pace at which we are developing our domestic geothermal development programme," Mighty River chief executive Doug Heffernan said in a press release.
Looking offshore
International renewable energy developments made multiple headlines last week.
Mighty River revealed details of geothermal developments in Chile, while fellow state-owned enterprise Meridian purchased an Australian wind farm and commissioned a Californian solar plant.
In a show of broad support for the industry, Minister for Energy and Resources Gerry Brownlee announced that New Zealand would join the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA).
Since Mr Brownlee’s press release, IRENA membership has grown to 144 states in addition to the EU, and ratifications have increased to 19, including India. Twenty-five ratifications are needed to enter the stature into force.
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