Huntly Power Station
Huntly Power Station in 2005, with the four steam turbine units (two operational as of 2017).
CountryNew Zealand
LocationHuntly, Waikato
Coordinates37°32′38″S 175°9′10″E / 37.54389°S 175.15278°E / -37.54389; 175.15278
StatusOperational
Commission date1982 (1982)
Owner(s)Genesis Energy Limited
Thermal power station
Primary fuelNatural gas
Secondary fuelCoal (units 1–4)
Combined cycle?Unit 5 only
Power generation
Units operational3× 250 MW steam turbine
1× 403 MW CCGT
1× 50 MW open-cycle
Units decommissioned1× 250 MW steam turbine
Nameplate capacity953 MW
Capacity factor66.5%
Annual net output4991 GWh
External links
Websitewww.genesisenergy.co.nz/assets
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The Huntly Power Station is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand and is located in the town of Huntly in the Waikato. It is operated by Genesis Energy Limited, a publicly listed company (currently 51% owned by the NZ Government).[1] The station has five operational generating units – three 250 MW coal-and-gas-fired steam turbine units, a 50 MW gas peaking plant, and a 403 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant. The station also plays an important role in voltage support for the Northland, Auckland and Waikato regions.[2]

Operation

Generation

Each of the four original generating units, which are capable of burning either coal or gas, installed in stages between 1973 and 1985, is capable of generating 250 MW (Megawatts) of electricity, giving a historical generating capacity of 1000 MW.[1] Its chimneys are 150 metres high[1] and each chimney has two flues that are 7 metres in diameter. The plant uses a reheat steam cycle, with C A Parsons turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers.

In 2004 the power station was upgraded with the addition of a 50 MW gas turbine plant, and in 2007 the combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant was commissioned.[3] This plant increased the total generating capacity of Huntly by 403 MW (250 MW gas turbine + 153 MW steam turbine).[1] The new turbine represented an investment of NZ$520 million[4] and it increased the total installed capacity to 1453 MW.[5]

In 2007, Huntly operated at a load factor of 85% and was providing a large amount of the baseload energy needs of the northern North Island.[6] In 2007, the plant was mainly gas-fired, but a dry winter in 2008 prompted more coal thermal generation.[7]

In December 2012, Genesis Energy placed one of the four Huntly Power Station 250 MW units into long-term storage.[8] The second coal-fired 250 MW unit was permanently retired in June 2015[9] after being placed in storage (with a 90 day return to service) in 2013.[10]

In February 2021, a third 250 MW unit was brought back online to assist with drought and gas shortages and made available until September 2021.[11] Most of the coal it is burning is imported from Indonesia, with much of it coming to Huntly by truck from Ports of Auckland, while some comes by rail from the Port of Tauranga.[12]

Fuel and coolant

The four 250 MW units were constructed as dual fuel, able to operate on natural gas from Taranaki or coal from the nearby Rotowaro coal mine. A 10 km conveyor belt was constructed to carry coal from the mine to the power station.[13]

Previous to the substitution of coal, Huntly used gas from the fields to power the generation of the main units as well, but these were switched in the 1990s because of dwindling resources.[6]

Natural gas to power units 5 and 6 comes from several gas fields in Taranaki. The gas is transmitted along the 307 km, 750 mm diameter Maui gas pipeline from Oaonui production station near Opunake, which was commissioned in 1979 to supply the station.[14]

The station uses water from the Waikato River for cooling. However, in order to protect aquatic life, conditions are imposed by the resource consent (issued under the Resource Management Act), specifying the quantity of water that can be removed by the station along with the maximum temperature of the water when returned to the river (25 °C). These conditions mean that on very hot summer days the station cannot operate at maximum capacity, and has sometimes effectively been shut down. A new cooling tower has been built as part of expansion works at the site, which allows one 250 MW unit to run at full load even during such times.[1]

Transmission and distribution

The majority of the energy generated at Huntly Power Station is transmitted through the national grid to Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, which lies 95 kilometres (59 mi) to the north of the station.

Huntly is connected to the rest of the national grid via a large substation switchyard and six 220 kV transmission circuits carried on three high capacity transmission lines. These transmission lines are:[15]

  • a double circuit line (HLY-TMN-A) to Stratford in Taranaki, via Te Kowhai and Taumarunui
  • a double circuit line (HLY-OTA-A) to Ōtāhuhu substation in Auckland, via Drury and Takanini
  • a double circuit line (HLY-DEV A) to the Ohinewai switching station, where it connects with the Otahuhu to Whakamaru C line

The Huntly switchyard also includes a grid exit point for supply to the local distribution network in the Huntly area.

Future

The plant, as the biggest carbon dioxide greenhouse gas generators of the country,[6] contributing over half of New Zealand's emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity generation,[16] has repeatedly drawn the ire of environmentalists and has been the focus of associated protests.[4] A 2006 government report outlining future climate change mitigation and energy policies was seen by the operator as a sign that the plant might have to be closed by 2015 under these plans, with around 10 years of design life still remaining. It was also noted that, apart from being difficult to replace as a source of power (due to New Zealand's annually growing generation demand, especially around Auckland), such a decision would also be uneconomical for the foreseeable future, even if coal prices were to rise.[17]

In May 2012, resource consent was granted by the Waikato Regional Council to continue running the gas and coal units for a period of 25 years.[18]

In April 2016, Genesis Energy announced that the Huntly Power Station would continue operation of its two remaining coal / gas burning units until December 2022.[19] The two gas turbine generators would continue to operate into the future.[20]

Company chief executive Marc England has stated "By 2025, Genesis will only use coal in its thermal units in abnormal market conditions, and it is our intent to remove coal completely by 2030".[21]

Genesis plans a trial of bio-fuel over summer 2022/23.[22]

In the online game ElectroCity, run by Genesis Energy, coal-fired power stations take the form of Huntly.

The Huntly Power Station features in the video for the Purple Pilgrims song "Two Worlds Apart".[23]

The power station is featured as an external setting for the 2002 television film Atomic Twister, fictionally named as Hellman-Klein Nuclear Power Plant in Tennessee.

It appears, fully modelled, in Microsoft Flight Simulator, where it was added on February 23, 2023 as part of a free update.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Huntly Power Station". Genesis Energy Limited. Retrieved 15 February 2019.
  2. ↑ "Waikato and Upper North Island Voltage Management Investigation - Long List Consultation" (PDF). Transpower New Zealand. July 2016. Retrieved 2 May 2018.
  3. ↑ Trevor Mallard (31 August 2007). "e3p leads the way towards a sustainable NZ". Speech at opening of Genesis Energy e3p power station, Huntly. New Zealand Government.
  4. 1 2 "Protesters could be charged over power station climb". The New Zealand Herald. 26 February 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2013.
  5. ↑ "Genesis 385MW gas-fired power station nears completion at Huntly". Ministry of Economic Development. 14 September 2006. Archived from the original on 18 October 2008.
  6. 1 2 3 Fallow, Brian (6 September 2007). "Tough choices on power". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 7 January 2011.
  7. ↑ "World Coal Institute Country Profile – New Zealand". Coal Association of New Zealand. 2010. Archived from the original on 6 February 2013. Retrieved 13 March 2012. New Zealand has only one coal-fired power station, which is the 1000 MW Huntly Power Station in the North Island. The use of this had been scaled back in 2007 in favour of gas, however, the plant was pushed into use again by a particularly dry winter in 2008 impacting on hydroelectricity production
  8. ↑ "Genesis Power Limited Interim Report 2012/13" (PDF). Genesis Energy. 27 February 2013.
  9. ↑ "Second stored coal unit to retire" (PDF) (Press release). Genesis Energy. 29 June 2015.
  10. ↑ "Second Huntly coal/gas unit to be placed into storage" (PDF). Genesis Energy. 27 September 2013.
  11. ↑ "Genesis To Make Third Rankine Available To Cover Drought And Gas Shortages" (Press release). Genesis Energy. 15 February 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  12. ↑ Pullar-Strecker, Tom (18 May 2021). "Budget's carbon savings equal about five days coal use at Huntly". Stuff. Retrieved 15 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Rotowaro Mine". Solid Energy. Archived from the original on 26 March 2017. Retrieved 14 May 2017.
  14. ↑ "The New Zealand Gas Story". Gas Industry Company. December 2016. p. 92. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
  15. ↑ "North Island Power System Diagram" (PDF). Transpower New Zealand Limited. 2017. Retrieved 9 March 2017.
  16. ↑ Professor Peter Gluckman (13 August 2009). "Climate change". Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee. Retrieved 7 January 2011. The coal-burning Huntly power station on the Waikato river is responsible for over half of New Zealand's emissions from electricity generation
  17. ↑ Fallow, Brian (13 April 2007). "Little gain for the power consumer's pain". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 4 June 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2007.
  18. ↑ "Resource consents granted for Huntly Power Station". Genesis Energy. 31 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2012.
  19. ↑ "Rankine units operational life extended" (PDF) (Press release). Genesis Energy. 28 April 2016.
  20. ↑ "Genesis Energy Limited (GNE) announces timetable to end coal-fired generation in New Zealand" (PDF). Genesis Energy. 6 August 2015.
  21. ↑ Frykberg, Eric (14 February 2019). "Genesis Energy to phase out Huntly coal use". RadioNZ.
  22. ↑ "Genesis Greenlane Letter template". October 2022.
  23. ↑ Smithies, Grant (7 March 2020). "Purple Pilgrims: The Kiwi sisters conquering the world from the Coromandel". Stuff. Retrieved 13 October 2020.

Further reading

  • Martin, John E, ed. (1991). People, Power and Power Stations: Electric Power Generation in New Zealand 1880 – 1990. Wellington: Bridget Williams Books Ltd and Electricity Corporation of New Zealand. pp. 316 pages. ISBN 0-908912-16-1.
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