KEY POINTS:
Genesis Energy has fired up its latest generation project, turning on the gas at its new Huntly e3p turbine.
The new power station, built next to existing Huntly coal- and gas-fired power station, is expected to deliver 385MW of electricity to the national grid - enough to power 370,000 homes - when it is fully commissioned in April.
Huntly e3p is the largest new power station to be built in New Zealand since 1996 and is equivalent in size to the Contact Energy's Otahuhu B combined cycle gas turbine.
Fueled by natural gas sourced from on-shore and off-shore gas fields in Taranaki, the power station is expected to soak up three to four years worth of New Zealand's electricity demand, which is growing at a rate of 120 MW a year.
