The Stratford Power Station is a 577 MW power station located east of Stratford, in Taranaki, New Zealand. The original power station on the site was a 200 MW

gas turbine power plant A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

that opened in 1976 and closed in 2001. The current power station comprises a 377 MW combined cycle unit that opened in 1998 and two

open cycle gas turbine A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of continuous flow internal combustion engine. The main parts common to all gas turbine engines form the power-producing part (known as the gas generator or core) and are, in the directio ...

units for

peaking power Peaking power plants, also known as peaker plants, and occasionally just "peakers", are power plants that generally run only when there is a high demand, known as peak demand, for electricity. Because they supply power only occasionally, the power ...

that opened in 2011. The station is now owned and operated by

Contact Energy Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity, natural gas, broadband and LPG. It is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand (after Meridian Energy), ...

Original gas turbine plant

Construction of the Stratford Gas Turbine Plant, a 200 MW power station, was completed on what is now the Stratford Power Station site in June 1976. It comprised four 50 MW units, each a Pratt and Whitney TwinPak of two FT4 gas turbines. The FT4 engine is the stationary version of the Pratt & Whitney JT4 aircraft engine. The plant was fired on

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 carbon ...

, and the units were in open cycle configuration. The FT4 units were owned and operated (in turn) by NZED, NZE, ECNZ and

. The four 50 MW units were decommissioned and removed in 2001, and used in the construction of the

Valley Power Peaking Facility The Valley Power Peaking Facility is an open cycle, gas turbine power station at Traralgon in the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia. It is owned and operated by Snowy Hydro. The plant was developed by Edison Mission Energy and Contact Energ ...

in Australia.

Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of climate change

In 1993, the Environment Minister

Simon Upton Simon David Upton (born 7 February 1958) is a former New Zealand politician and member of Parliament from 1981 to 2001, representing the National Party, and the current Parliamentary Commissioner for the Environment. Early life Upton was edu ...

established a board of inquiry under the

Resource Management Act The Resource Management Act (RMA) passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water. New Ze ...

to hear the application for a

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 b ...

for

Electricity Corporation of New Zealand The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand Ltd (ECNZ) is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise (SOE) formed on 1 April 1987, as a transition entity in the process of deregulating the New Zealand electricity market. Most of ECNZ's remaining liabi ...

's (ECNZ) proposed 400 megawatt Stratford power station in Taranaki. The scheme was known as the Taranaki Combined Cycle (TCC) project. In February 1995, the board of inquiry concluded that the station’s operation would significantly increase New Zealand’s emissions of carbon dioxide and make it more difficult for the Government to meet its obligation to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to their 1990 levels as committed to under the

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established an international environmental treaty to combat "dangerous human interference with the climate system", in part by stabilizing greenhouse gas concentrations in th ...

. The board of inquiry recommended that ECNZ must establish a

carbon sink A carbon sink is anything, natural or otherwise, that accumulates and stores some carbon-containing chemical compound for an indefinite period and thereby removes carbon dioxide () from the atmosphere. Globally, the two most important carbon si ...

"sufficient to eventually store in perpetuity the equivalent quantity of carbon emitted from the site over the term of the permit". In March 1995, Upton approved the expansion of the station to 400-megawatts on the condition that forests were planted to create a carbon sink or the effect of emissions was reduced by greater efficiency elsewhere. In June 2003, a hearing committee of the Taranaki Regional Council granted an application to delete the consent conditions requiring mitigation of

carbon dioxide emissions Greenhouse gas emissions from human activities strengthen the greenhouse effect, contributing to climate change. Most is carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas. The largest emitters include coal in China and lar ...

Combined cycle plant

The Taranaki Combined Cycle (TCC) power station consists of one 377 MW combined cycle unit, based on a GT26 gas turbine in single shaft configuration. Cooling is by a mechanical draft cooling tower, using water from the

Pātea River The Pātea River is in Taranaki in the North Island of New Zealand. It runs for 105 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki, passing east through Stratford before swinging south and reaching the South Taranaki Bight near the t ...

. Fletcher Construction started construction in 1996 and it was commissioned in 1998. It was purchased by

in 2003.

Peaker plant

The 200 MW Stratford Peaker plant was built on the site in 2009–2010. It comprises two LMS100 gas turbine units in open cycle configuration, and is used as a peaking power plant, to complement hydro and wind generation. It was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key on 31 May 2011.

References

{{reflist Natural gas-fired power stations in New Zealand Stratford, New Zealand Buildings and structures in Taranaki

Original gas turbine plant

Greenhouse gas emissions and mitigation of climate change

Combined cycle plant

Peaker plant

See also

References