Marsden B was an unused 250 MW oil-fired

power station A power station, also referred to as a power plant and sometimes generating station or generating plant, is an industrial facility for the electricity generation, generation of electric power. Power stations are generally connected to an electr ...

near the

Marsden Point Oil Refinery Marsden Point Oil Refinery was an oil refinery located at Marsden Point, Whangārei, Northland, New Zealand, which operated from 1964 to 2022. It was the only significant oil refinery in New Zealand, and was owned and operated by the New Zealand ...

Marsden Point Marsden Point is a broad, flat peninsula that is the southern head of the Whangārei Harbour entrance on the east coast of Northland Region, Northland, New Zealand, southeast of the city of Whangārei. It is the location of Marsden Point Oil R ...

, Ruakaka, Northland,

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. Due to rising oil prices, the plant was mothballed in 1978 without ever being commissioned. The Marsden site also includes the Marsden A power station, now a synchronous compensation facility owned and operated by

Mercury Energy Mercury NZ Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation and multi-product utility retailer of electricity, gas, broadband and mobile telephone services. All the company's electricity generation is renewable. Mercury has a pre-paid electrici ...

. Various schemes were considered for utilising the plant, spanning a range of fuels and technologies. A 2004 proposal to refurbish it for coal-fired use drew

environmental Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

protests and created drawn-out legal challenges before this proposal was also eventually abandoned. The plant was dismantled and shipped to India in 2012.

History

Marsden B was built as an oil-fired plant but never commissioned, due to rising oil prices and cheaper alternatives available from natural gas and from the hydroelectric generation of the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

. It was to be a station associated with Marsden A and was built next to it on the same site. A program of extended maintenance was undertaken with the major components being "preserved" with anti-rust chemical coatings and regular inspection. This "mothballing" was put into place as an economy measure should demand ever make its use an economical proposition. At various times, some items of auxiliary equipment were removed and relocated to other power stations around the country. The exhaust chimneys for both stations were brought down after partial dismantling of Marsden A. In 2004, Mighty River Power proposed modification of Marsden B for operation on coal. This revived a 1970s proposal, and would require the construction of a

branch line A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line. Branch lines may serve one or more industries, or a city or town not located ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

, the Marsden Point Branch, to carry in the quantity of coal required. The proposal drew record numbers of submissions mostly in opposition. Greenpeace New Zealand staged an occupation of the site in 2005.

Protest timeline

The following is a timeline of the events associated with the proposed coal-fired reactivation: * October 2004: Mighty River Power lodge application with Northland Regional Council for resource consent to refire Marsden B power station on coal. * February 2005: Greenpeace occupies the roof of Marsden B for 9 days, bringing national attention to the issue. Jointly, with local community groups, Greenpeace asks the Minister for the Environment to "call in" the project, so that the government must make a decision on the project. They refuse. The three activists come down on the day submissions close. A record 4000 submissions are received by the Council, almost all opposing it. * July - August 2005: Commissioners acting for the Northland Regional Council hear submissions on the proposal. Greenpeace brings experts from Australia and the United States. * September 2005: Resource consent is granted by the Northland Regional Council to reopen the power station as a coal-fired plant. It is the first major

coal-fired power station A coal-fired power station or coal power plant is a thermal power station which burns coal to generate electricity. Worldwide there are about 2,500 coal-fired power stations, on average capable of generating a gigawatt each. They generate ...

in New Zealand for over 25 years. * October 2005: Greenpeace and other community groups lodged an appeal to the Environment Court. * February 2006: Mighty River Power called for proceedings in the overall appeal to be put on hold while it negotiated access to

Department of Conservation Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

(DOC) land. :Mighty River Power submitted to the Environment Court that climate change could not be considered in the overall appeal. * July 2006: The Environment Court made its decision regarding the relevance of climate change to the overall appeal, saying that climate change is not a relevant consideration that needed to be taken into account when approving Marsden B. * August 2006: Greenpeace appealed the decision on climate change to the

High Court of New Zealand The High Court of New Zealand () is the superior court of New Zealand. It has general jurisdiction and responsibility, under the Senior Courts Act 2016, as well as the High Court Rules 2016, for the administration of justice throughout New Zeala ...

. * September 2006: DOC issue their interim decision to allow MRP access to DOC land for a coal conveyor for Marsden B. * October 2006: The High Court overturned the Environment Court decision and said that climate change does need to be considered. * November 2006: Submissions closed to DOC regarding allowing Mighty River access to DOC land for a coal conveyor belt. :Mighty River Power appealed the High Court decision to the

Court of Appeal An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to Hearing (law), hear a Legal case, case upon appeal from a trial court or other ...

. Genesis Energy indicated their interest in joining the appeal on Mighty River's side. * January 2007: The Department of Conservation hearing on 30–31 January 2007, to hear submissions on Mighty River's plans to put a coal conveyor belt across conservation land. Greenpeace, community groups and individuals made submissions at the hearing. Over 1,400 written submissions were received by DOC and almost all opposed the plan. * March 2007: Mighty River Power abandons its coal plans at Marsden B.

Sale

In 2009, Mighty River Power sold the Marsden B plant for $20 million to an Indian company, United Telecom. Resource consents for dismantling the plant were granted in June 2011, and the 20,000 tonnes of plant and equipment was dismantled later in 2011.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Submissions on Marsden B
Oil-fired power stations in New Zealand Environmental protests in New Zealand Buildings and structures in the Northland Region Whangarei District

History

Protest timeline

Sale

See also

References

External links