Ngatamariki Power Station

Ngatamariki is a geothermal power station commissioned in 2013 and operated by Mercury Energy. It is located approximately 17 km north east of Taupo and was constructed well under the budget of $475 million.[1][2][3]

Ngatamariki Power Station
CountryNew Zealand
Location17 km (11 mi) northeast of Taupo, Waikato
Coordinates38°32′50″S 176°11′45″E
StatusOperational
Construction beganJuly 2011 (July 2011)
Commission dateSeptember 2013 (September 2013)
Construction costNZ$475 million [1]
Owner(s)Mercury Energy
Geothermal power station
Wells7
Power generation
Nameplate capacity82 MW
110 MW (Planned)
Annual net output700 GWh

The field was initially explored by the Crown in 1985-86, with the wells NM1, NM2, NM3, and NM4 drilled to 1300m, 2403m, 2194m, and 2749m respectively.[4] NM4 was the first well in New Zealand to encounter a pluton, at a depth of almost 2400m. Mighty River Power undertook further drilling in 2008-09, with wells NM5, NM6, and NM7 drilled to depths of 2997m, 3398m, 2963m respectively.[5] Resource consents for further development were granted in May 2010.[6]

Work at the geothermal field site on the first stage of the plant (82 MW) commenced in July 2011[7] and the plant became operational in September, 2013, one month later than scheduled.[2][8] The power station is a binary plant, supplied under an EPC contract by Ormat.[9] A 220,000-volt power line connects Ngatamariki to Mercury's Nga Awa Purua Power Station, where electricity from both stations is injected into Transpower's national grid.

The Ngatamariki Geothermal site consists of 7 geothermal wells (3 production and 4 re-injection). In addition to the main goethermal wells, there are 21 sentinel and monitoring wells, to depths of 1,500m.[1]

See also

References
  1. "New Ngatamariki Station boosts Mighty River Power's geothermal production, driving earnings growth" (Press release). Mighty River Power. 2 September 2013. Archived from the original on 5 October 2013.
  2. "Mighty River Power Development Projects Update" (Press release). Mighty River Power. 13 June 2012. Archived from the original on 29 July 2012.
  3. "New power station adds to grid capacity" (Press release). Mighty River Power. 18 January 2010.
  4. Urzúa-Monsalve, Luis Alejandro (2008). Integration of a preliminary one-dimensional MT analysis with geology and geochemistry in a conceptual model of the Ngatamariki geothermal field (M.Sc.). University of Auckland.
  5. O'Brien, Jeremy Mark (2010). Hydrogeochemical Characteristics of the Ngatamariki Geothermal Field and a Comparison with the Orakei Korako Thermal Area, Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand (M.Sc.). University of Canterbury.
  6. "Go ahead for geothermal plant at Tahorakuri". 13 May 2010.
  7. "Mighty River Power to build new $466m geothermal plant". NZ Herald. 8 June 2011.
  8. "Ngatamariki end of the power line". Fairfax NZ News. 3 September 2013.
  9. "Mighty River Power To Build 82 MW Ngatamariki Project". ThinkGeoenergy. 7 June 2011.
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