Contact hot on thermal power

New Zealand could double its generation of geothermal power over the next 10 years, says Contact Energy chief executive Steve Barrett.

At the opening of Contact's geothermal binary plant at Wairakei, near Taupo, yesterday, Barrett said geothermal power offered a practical and sustainable contribution to meeting future energy needs.

The new 16-megawatt plant will generate enough power to supply 15,000 households.

The addition of the binary plant will boost the generation capacity of the Wairakei Power Station to 120 gigawatts a year.

Barrett said the construction of the binary plant - which began in April 2004 - was part of Contact's ongoing commitment to improving the efficiency of existing operations.

It effectively boosted the output at Wairakei by 10 per cent with no additional draw-off from the geothermal steam field.

The separated geothermal water that is used to fuel the binary plant is a product of the previously existing generation process.

There is 450 megawatts of geothermal capacity in New Zealand, contributing about 7 per cent of the country's electricity needs.

Barrett said Contact was continuing to make good gains in its thermal plant programme around Taupo.

It was completing a programme of drilling four geothermal production wells at the nearby Te Mihi steam field, which is expected to add 25 megawatts of generation.

By November, the company also expects to start drilling geothermal wells at Ohaaki, which would add 14 megawatts capacity to the existing plant.

Contact contributes about two-thirds of New Zealand's geothermal generation from its Wairakei, Poihipo and Ohaaki stations.