Te Mihi Power Station

Te Mihi Power Station
Country	New Zealand
Location	Taupō, New Zealand
Coordinates	38°37′1″S 176°2′36″E
Status	Operational
Construction began	March 2011
Commission date	May 2014
Construction cost	NZ$623 million
Owner	Contact Energy
Power generation
Nameplate capacity	168 MW

Early morning looking towards Eastern boundary

The Te Mihi Power Station is a 166 MW geothermal power station owned and operated by Contact Energy, located north of Taupō in New Zealand.

The resource consent for the power station was "called in" by the Minister for the Environment Trevor Mallard under the terms of the Resource Management Act. The appointed Board of Enquiry granted the consent with a set of stipulated conditions.^[1]

Te Mihi Power Station uses geothermal energy from the Wairakei geothermal field, which lies in the Taupō Volcanic Zone. It is part of a plan to gradually replace the Wairakei Power Station which will be phased out of production. With Te Mihi in operation, output from Wairakei is decreased by approximately 45 MW, resulting in a net increase of about 114 MW.^[2]

The project was designed and constructed by a joint venture of McConnell Dowell, SNC-Lavalin and Parsons Brinckerhoff.^[3] The plant includes two 83 MW steam turbines supplied by Toshiba. The project cost $623 million^[2] and was officially opened in August 2014.^[4]

Eastern boundary where steam is introduced to the plant

Electricity Generation at Te Mihi.

See also

• Geothermal power in New Zealand
• List of power stations in New Zealand

References

1. "Board of Inquiry for the Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station Proposal". Ministry for the Environment. 2008-09-13. Retrieved 2008-09-13.
2. "Contact kicks off Mihi project". 22 February 2011.
3. "Te Mihi Geothermal Power Station". McConnell Dowell.
4. Weir, James (14 August 2014). "Te Mihi geothermal station to boost Contact". Dominoin Post.

External links

• "Power Stations". Contact Energy.