KEY POINTS:
Contact Energy has confirmed its 300 megawatt thermal New Plymouth power station will remain closed.
In September, asbestos was discovered in areas of the 31-year-old plant where it was not previously recorded on the plant's asbestos register, and the plant was immediately shut down.
Contact said today that since then it had examined a range of options in relation to the future of the plant and last week began consulting with the 50 staff about closing it.
Chief executive David Baldwin said discussions about other employment or redundancy options would continue with employees.
The company's commitment to support staff who may have been exposed to asbestos remained firmly in place, he said.
The retirement of the New Plymouth power station was driven both by the age of the plant, its operational and environmental inefficiency, and the increasing need for thermal power stations to be fast-start, efficient and flexible in order to support greater levels of fluctuating renewable generation, Mr Baldwin said.
Contact intended to replace the New Plymouth power station's contribution to peak capacity with new, modern, capacity, likely to be located at its Stratford site.
No decision had been made on the future use of the New Plymouth site or the power station buildings, chimney and other structures.
National grid operator Transpower said a national winter group of electricity industry specialists had determined the power system could meet peak demand next winter without the New Plymouth station, provided all other generation was available.
- NZPA
