The Rodney Power Station was a proposal for a

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbo ...

fired

combined cycle A combined cycle power plant is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem from the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy. On land, when used to make electricity the most common type is called a combined cycle gas turb ...

power station developed by

Genesis Energy Limited Genesis Energy Limited, formerly Genesis Power Limited is a New Zealand publicly listed electricity generation and electricity, natural gas and LPG retailing company. It was formed as part of the 1998–99 reform of the New Zealand electri ...

. The project was abandoned in 2015. The power station would have been located on a 48 ha site midway between Helensville and

Kaukapakapa Kaukapakapa is a town in the North Island of New Zealand. It is situated in the Rodney ward of the Auckland Region and is around 50 kilometres (31 miles) northwest of Auckland city. State Highway 16 passes through the town, connecting it to Hele ...

on State Highway 16, near the Kaipara Harbour, north west of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

. The proposed development included substantial upgrade or replacement of the Helensville waste water treatment plant, which the local council would otherwise have to fund. The plant was designed to use high efficiency

gas turbine technology to meet the increasing demand for electricity in the north Auckland region. The location would also have assisted to ease constraints on HV electricity transmission. In its assessment of Transpower's proposal to upgrade HV transmission to north of Auckland, the Electricity Commission considered that the Rodney power station project provided a generation alternative to transmission.

Consenting

Genesis Energy's applications for

resource consent A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...

s including air discharges were notified for public submissions in April 2008, a public hearing was held in September and the resource consents were granted by Auckland Regional Council in December 2008. The project was opposed by some local residents,

Greenpeace Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network, founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth t ...

and the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation ...

. Land use resource consents for the power station were granted by Rodney District Council in March 2009. A variation to the District Plan created a thermal energy generation rural zone between Helensville and

. Although resource consents and the District Plan provisions are in place, Genesis does not intend to proceed with construction in the near future. The resource consents allowed Genesis a period of 15 years in which to build the plant. In July 2015 Genesis officially abandoned the project, and put the site up for sale.

References

External links

Genesis Energy
- Rodney Power Station information page {{Genesis Energy Limited Natural gas-fired power stations in New Zealand Rodney District Proposed natural gas-fired power stations Buildings and structures in the Auckland Region Proposed power stations in New Zealand

Consenting

See also

References

External links