$1b Taupo geothermal project picks up steam

A $1 billion geothermal power station planned by Contact Energy for Taupo is expected to bring $30 million a year into the region and create 230 fulltime jobs.

The proposed 250-megawatt Tauhara Stage 2 development will generate enough electricity to light up 240,000 homes.

Project manager James Kilty told a Taupo District Council meeting yesterday that the Tauhara power station would produce about 90 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than a coal-fired station.

Mr Kilty said electricity could be produced more efficiently and cheaply using geothermal energy, but power prices were not likely to drop because of the transmission and distribution costs.

Power generated from Tauhara Stage 2 will be fed into the national grid after an upgrade of the Wairakei Ring transmission line by Transpower.

Resource consent applications for Tauhara Stage 2 would be lodged with the Environmental Protection Agency early next year for public submission hearings.

If consent is granted by late 2010, construction could begin early in 2011 for commissioning in 2015.

The 18-hectare site on bare farmland is five kilometres east of Taupo near Mt Tauhara.

The project would add 1300 jobs and contribute $150m to the Taupo economy during two years of construction.

It is estimated the power station would create 230 new permanent jobs and add $30m a year to the Taupo region.

Contact Energy is currently building a smaller 23MW Tauhara Stage 1 power station on Centennial Dr, about 2km from the Stage 2 site.

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