Kawerau geothermal power station

The Kawerau geothermal power station is a 90-megawatt geothermal power plant located just outside the town of Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty region New Zealand. The power station is situated within the Kawerau geothermal field, which is part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Completed in 2008 by Mighty River Power Limited, it was the largest geothermal power project in New Zealand since 1989 and cost NZ$300 million. [cite news |author=Bradley, Grant |title=Full steam ahead for new Kawerau plant |publisher="The New Zealand Herald" |url=http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10519417 |date=2008-07-02 |accessdate=2008-09-10]

The Kawerau geothermal power station boosted the country's geothermal capacity by 25 per cent, [cite news | author = Mathew Carr and Gavin Evans | title = Geothermal power moves ahead as reliable source of renewable energy | publisher = "International Herald Tribune" | url = http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/01/04/bloomberg/bxheat.php | date = 2007-01-05] and significantly increased local generation capacity in the eastern Bay of Plenty, meeting approximately one third of residential and industrial demand in the region. [ [http://www.mightyriverpower.co.nz/content/888/Feb_2007_Newsletter.pdf Mighty River Power News, February 2007] ]

The station uses a single Fuji turbine and steam from two phase wells. The two phase fluid is flashed/separated twice to produce high and low pressure steam to feed the turbine.

ee also

*Geothermal power in New Zealand

References

External links

* [http://www.nzgeothermal.org.nz/index.asp New Zealand Geothermal Association (Inc.)]
* [http://www.mightyriverpower.co.nz/content/588/Kawerau_AEE_9.9.05.pdf Application for consent to build the new plant]
* [http://maps.google.co.nz/?ie=UTF8&ll=-38.061963,176.72925&spn=0.009055,0.016522&t=h&z=16 Proposed site for the Kawerau plant]