Contact generates sale

Contact Energy plans to sell two 54MW power generators from its Whirinaki plant in Hawkes Bay.

It has signed an agreement with US company Pratt & Whitney to jointly find a buyer for the surplus units.

Company spokesman David Hunt said the units were reserve back-ups which had not been used for years. The diesel plant is among the most expensive power producer in the country.

Contact will not reveal what it expects to get for the units, though it recently sold four similar but older units for $23 million.

There has been strong demand in the North American market for units of this type to help manage load during peak periods.

Mr Hunt said that when Whirinaki was built in the 1970s most of New Zealand's power came from hydro so it was useful to have a thermal plant as back-up. But in the past five years over 1000MW of mostly thermal capacity had been built.