^{Image: Commissioning work ramps up at Contact’s Te Huka 3 geothermal power station}

• Contact’s newest geothermal power station Te Huka Unit 3 (Te Huka 3) provides power to the grid for the first time.

• It will be one of the first 100% carbon neutral geothermal power stations in the world.

• At maximum generation capacity, the $300 million binary cycle power station will run at 51.4 megawatts (MW), providing enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 60,000 homes.

• Expected to be online by the end of 2024, Te Huka 3 will be Contact’s seventh geothermal power station, extending Contact’s renewable energy portfolio.

Contact’s new $300 million geothermal power station Te Huka 3 has today [Monday, 14 October 2024] reached a major commissioning milestone by synchronising and providing power to the national electricity grid for the first time.

At full capacity, Te Huka 3 will run at 51.4MW, which is enough renewable energy to power the equivalent of 60,000 homes. During a three-week testing period with Transpower, a small amount of power, approximately 15MW, will initially be fed to the grid. This will then be increased gradually to 51.4MW during testing.

This will be followed by formal generator compliance testing to Transpower’s system operator code requirements to confirm Te Huka 3 can provide electricity to the grid efficiently and safely. 

Contact’s CEO Mike Fuge says Contact is focused on being a leader in the decarbonisation of New Zealand. “Te Huka 3, our new geothermal power station, is a significant demonstration of our ability to invest, build and deliver world class assets for the benefit of all New Zealanders.

“This marks a huge moment for the team at Te Huka 3, who have, for the past two years, worked tirelessly from the initial ground-breaking on site to building a fully operational renewable power station. That is no mean feat,” says Mr Fuge.

This milestone is a culmination of key commissioning activities over the past few months at the binary cycle power station, including steam being introduced into the separator station; which splits geothermal fluid into steam and liquids before going into the power station; testing a new well; and pentane arriving on site. When operating, steam and liquids from the well will be used to heat up the pentane to drive Te Huka 3’s turbine.

Once Transpower’s tests are complete, Contact will carry out further rigorous performance and reliability testing before the site is expected to become fully operational at the end of the year, including a 30-day reliability run to confirm that Te Huka 3 can run continuously and reliably at 51.4MW over a month.

“It’s a really exciting time for geothermal energy,” says Mike Fuge. “It’s often been the unsung hero of power, but now it is really coming into its own as it plays a crucial role in New Zealand’s transition away from fossil fuels while helping to keep the lights on.”

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise’s (MBIE) latest Energy Quarterly report notes geothermal generation reached a record high of 2143 GWh generated between April and June in 2024, with a fifth (19%) of the country’s energy coming from geothermal sources during the autumn months. Boosting this figure was the commissioning of Contact's power station at Tauhara, which first started contributing to the national grid in May.

Key facts about Te Huka 3

• Te Huka 3, alongside Tauhara, is part of Contact’s $1.2 billion investment into expanding its geothermal renewable energy generation portfolio. 

• Te Huka 3 is the third of three geothermal power units on Contact’s Centennial Drive site in Taupō, based on the Tauhara steamfield. 

• Te Huka 3 is expected to displace around 190 tonnes a year of CO2 emissions – the equivalent of removing over 70,000 cars from New Zealand’s roads.  

• Te Huka 3 will be zero-carbon with its design reinjecting its emissions back into the reservoir, making it one of the first 100% carbon neutral geothermal power stations in the world.

• The development of the site took just over two years, from project approval in August 2022, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2024. 

ENDS

Media enquiries

Lotty Hird, Senior Communications Advisor
M: 027 207 8684
E: lotty.hird@contactenergy.co.nz 

About Contact 

Contact Energy is one of New Zealand’s largest energy generators and retailers. We have more than 607,000 customer connections with electricity, gas, broadband and mobile plans. We currently operate 11 power stations across New Zealand, using geothermal, hydro and thermal energy to generate electricity. 

We are committed to leading the decarbonisation of New Zealand, and it is our vision to create and contribute to a better place to live; from the homes and communities we live in, to the land and resources that future generations can enjoy.

Website: contact.co.nz  More information can be found in Contact’s 2024 Integrated Report