Contact to Develop Geothermal Power Plant in Taupo

Contact Energy has announced that it will develop a 20MW geothermal electricity generation binary plant at Centennial Drive in Taupo, New Zealand.

Contact said that it is about to go to the market to determine project suppliers and the final plant configuration. It also said that the geothermal steam would be piped to the binary plant through around one kilometer of pipe, with all used geothermal fluid re-injected back into the edge of the steamfield.

David Baldwin, CEO of Contact Energy, said: “This project will take geothermal steam from the Tauhara steamfield and produce enough renewable electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes. The project is expected to cost around NZ$75 million, including the associated steamfield work, and the goal is to have the plant up and running in 2009.

“This is the first part of Contact’s proposed development of the Tauhara geothermal system, which will include a new power station of up to 225MW that we hope to have in service by 2012. Resource consent applications will be filed for this project in 2008.”