Mighty River Power expected to announce Marsden B plans

By ELLEN READ

Mighty River Power is expected to announce today that it is seeking consents to allow it to fire up the Marsden B power station fulltime, powered by coal.

The company would not comment but the Business Herald understands that although a coal-powered recommissioning has not been decided on, Mighty River thinks it prudent to initiate the consents procedure.

It's a procedure that could take several years, during which time new gas reserves could be found, rendering the possible plans irrelevant.

Mighty River, the smallest of the three state-owned power companies, said last year that it would not use oil to refire the 250-megawatt Marsden B station for emergency power generation.

Chief executive Doug Heffernan said then that the company was considering thermal fuel options - all of which would require new resource consents.

Marsden B was built in the late 1970s - designed to run on oil - but was mothballed in 1978 without generating any electricity.