The Te Huka Geothermal Power Station, also known as Tauhara One, is a 23 MW
binary cycle geothermal power station situated near
Taupō
Taupō (), sometimes written Taupo, is a town located in the central North Island of New Zealand. It is situated on the edge of Lake Taupō, which is the largest freshwater lake in New Zealand. Taupō was constituted as a borough in 1953. It h ...
,
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 ...
. The power station is operated by
Contact Energy
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation, electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity retailing, electricity, natural gas, broadband and Liquefied petroleum gas, LPG.
It is the second ...
.
In July 2008, Contact Energy announced that the contract for supply and construction of the binary cycle equipment was awarded to
Ormat Technologies
Ormat Technologies, Inc. is an international company based in Reno, Nevada, United States. Ormat supplies Alternative energy, alternative and Geothermal energy, renewable geothermal energy technology. The company has built over 190 power plant ...
.
The plant is powered with steam and fluid from the Tauhara steamfield, and all used geothermal fluid is reinjected back into the edge of the steamfield. A 33,000-volt line connects the power station to Transpower's
Wairakei
Wairakei is a small settlement and Geothermal activity, geothermal area 8-kilometres (5 mi) north of Taupō, in the centre of the North Island of New Zealand, on the Waikato River. It is part of the Taupō Volcanic Zone and features several nat ...
substation, injecting the station's electricity into both
Unison
Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...
's Taupō distribution network and the national grid.
The Tauhara One plant was opened in May 2010, three weeks ahead of schedule.
The power station was formerly known as Centennial Drive binary.
See also
*
List of power stations in New Zealand
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
*
Geothermal power in New Zealand
Geothermal power in New Zealand plays a significant part of the energy generation capacity of the country, constituting 25% of the total energy supply and 19% of electricity production in 2021. This positions New Zealand as the top user of geothe ...
*
Tauhara Power Station
The Tauhara Power Station is a geothermal power station north of Taupō in New Zealand. Previously known as Tauhara 2, the project was developed by Contact Energy and Tauhara Moana Trust and opened in November 2024. At its peak it can produce u ...
References
External links
Contact Energy project page
Geothermal power stations in New Zealand
Taupō
Buildings and structures in the Taupō District
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