Okere Falls site eyed for power plant

Mighty River Power has applied for resource consent to investigate and develop the use of geothermal power generation on the Taheke field, near Okere Falls.

Rotorua District Council resource consents team leader Portia McKenzie said they had just received the resource consent application from Mighty River Power for the temporary use of a drilling rig and temporary accommodation for up to 50 staff on a site off State Highway 33.

Mrs McKenzie said the company wanted to put up a drilling rig and put in portable cabins for staff to stay there while working on the project, which was expected to take up to six weeks.

The application said the purpose of the proposed work was to explore, test and monitor the Taheke geothermal system to determine the lateral extent, size and development potential of the resource.

Council staff would visit the site before deciding whether the application would need to be publicly notified.

Two years ago two Rotorua Maori land incorporations, Okere Incorporation and Ruahine Kuharua Incorporation, signed agreements with Mighty River Power to develop a geothermal power station.

The agreements, for what will be known as Te ia a Tutea Development, enable an initial exploration and feasibility study of the geothermal resource and provide for long-term co-ownership of any development.

Mighty River Power media relations manager Katherine Litten said the application was part of that process.

"This is an initial exploration phase to help us understand the size, extent and quality of the geothermal resource and to assist in determining whether it could sustain a renewable electricity development.

"No decision as to any future power station development has been made at this stage," Miss Litten said.

She said the lack of electricity demand growth in the New Zealand market meant Mighty River Power was unlikely to build a new power station in New Zealand in the next three to five years.

"Geothermal projects require long lead times. The securing of consents and exploration for projects such as Te ia a Tutea ensures that we can proceed as demand and economic conditions allow." At the time the agreements were signed, the adviser to the incorporations and principal of Hulton Patchell, John McRae, said it was "a very good deal" although he could not reveal the exact terms.

He said then that the arrangement was a combination of royalties and equities, and explained the equity option would see the incorporations holding a 50 per cent share.

The Taheke resource was thought to be of medium temperature, spanning an area potentially comparable to the Rotokawa field, where the company completed its most recent development, Nga Awa Purua geothermal plant.