Ngatamariki Power Station
CountryNew Zealand
Location17 km (11 mi) northeast of Taupō, Waikato
Coordinates38°32′50″S 176°11′45″E / 38.54722°S 176.19583°E / -38.54722; 176.19583
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

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

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 geothermal wells, there are 21 sentinel and monitoring wells, to depths of 1,500m.[1]

Electricity Generation at Ngatamariki.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 "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. 1 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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