10 JUN 2024

New turbines at Contact’s Roxburgh dam to create more renewable energy

_{The team at Roxburgh dam welcome the first of four new turbines onsite.}

Contact Energy (Contact) is embarking on its first ever turbine upgrade at the Roxburgh hydroelectric dam with a more than $30 million investment that will improve the dam’s efficiency and increase its average annual generation by 44 gigawatt hours (GWh), meaning more renewable power for Kiwi homes. 

The project will replace four of the eight existing turbines, and the first shipment of new components arrived at the dam on Friday 7 June 2024. The new 28.5 tonne, 3.9m diameter stainless steel turbines were designed and manufactured using modern techniques by the German hydro-engineering manufacturer Voith Hydro, one of the world's leading suppliers of hydroelectric equipment, technology, and services. 

“Roxburgh’s new turbines are more efficient than the original design, so we will get additional energy output for the same amount of water,” says Kirk Pritchard, acting Head off Projects and Performance at Contact. “The increase in the station’s electricity generation is enough to power an extra 6,000 homes.”  

The power station, based in Central Otago, was commissioned between 1956 and 1962 and still generates with the eight original Canadian built turbines. The first four were installed between 1956 and 1957 and the second four between 1960 and 1961. 

“For 70 years in service, our existing turbines are still in a good, safe and useable condition, but they are inefficient by today’s standards and ready to retire before wear and tear requires too much maintenance and increases the risk of failure,” says Kirk. 

Voith Hydro USA developed the turbine hydraulic design, while the remaining design work, manufacturing, and project management were undertaken by Voith Hydro’s India business unit.  Committed to generating opportunities for local contractors in New Zealand, Voith Hydro has subcontracted New Zealand based energy solutions provider MB Century to undertake the installation works, who together with Voith Hydro’s on-site technical experts, will install the four turbines back-to-back over a two-year period.  

"The Roxburgh turbine upgrade project exemplifies Voith Hydro’s international teamwork, involving teams from Germany, India, New Zealand, and the USA, in collaboration with New Zealand-based subcontractors. This project signifies Voith Hydro’s commitment to the long-term development of hydropower in New Zealand,” says Nikhil Kumar, Country Manager of Voith Hydro’s subsidiary in New Zealand.  

Hydroelectric dams like Roxburgh play a big role in generating renewable energy in New Zealand, and the investment into the new turbines is part of Contact’s commitment to lead the decarbonisation of the country.

“The update to Roxburgh will enable us to deliver more renewable energy and displace almost 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year1,” adds Kirk Pritchard. 

Kirk says the installation of the new turbines will benefit the local area too. “As with any major upgrade to a power station, teams of contractors from around Aotearoa – and sometimes further afield - are needed to help with the work. This will be a great boost to the local economy with local contractors assisting on some activities, along with more workers from outside the region staying in accommodation and eating out over the next two years.”  

Key facts about Roxburgh:

• Commissioned between 1956 and 1962, Roxburgh is a concrete gravity dam that contains nearly half a million cubic metres of concrete weighing 1.5million tonnes.
• The power station has a capacity of 320MW and generates between 1,400 and 1,830 GWh per year, enough to power more than 250,000 homes.
• The lake formed by the dam covers an area of nearly six square kilometres.
• Contact owns two hydroelectric dams, Roxburgh and Clyde, which are both based in Central Otago.
• Hydro electricity is created when water passes through a unit at a dam and spins the turbine that powers the generator which produces the electricity.

ENDS

¹  An additional 44 GWh capacity at Roxburgh will displace 19,447 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year. This figure has been calculated based on baseload generation at Contact’s Taranaki Combined Cycle (TCC) thermal power station. 

Lotty Hird
Senior Communications Advisor
M: 027 207 8684
E: [email protected]