Video: Enough power for 12,700 more EVs

A $67 million project on Mercury’s Whakamaru power station has future proofed the station and increased output by more than 20% (100MW to around 124MW).

That’s enough to power an additional 12,700 EVs, Mercury says.

It will conclude about 12 years of planning and execution, including more than four years of site works.

Mercury adds it’s also the most complex project to date in its multi-year re-investment across the Waikato Hydro System, with a quarter of a billion dollars re-invested so far.

As well as increased power, the project provides greater ability to rapidly respond to peak demand requirements for the national grid

“Whakamaru power station is a critical piece of infrastructure, in a pivotal position in the highly integrated cascade hydro system on the Waikato,” Mercury hydro and wholesale general manager Phil Gibson says.

The upgrade will result in a 20% gain in the peaking capacity of the station (the ability to rapidly respond to peak demand requirements). This will become increasingly valuable as New Zealand decarbonises its economy, and the addition of intermittent renewables such as wind require complementary rapid peaking capacity provided by other renewables such as reliable hydro generation, Mercury says.

Whakamaru power station is 40km north of Taupo and was commissioned in 1956 but was reaching a stage where the generators and turbines needed replacing, so Mercury’s engineers decided to get more power more sustainably.

All four turbine units have been overhauled.

“Everything about this project has been big – the timeframes, the money, planning, the size of the parts, the complexity, the risks, and the expertise of our teams,” Gibson say.

Unit outages were scheduled over summer to lessen impact on the market of reduced generation at the station.

A celebration is planned, including some of the original team who built the station back in the 1950s.

Next up is a detailed design and manufacturing now underway for a full-scale $75m overhaul of the Karapiro power station, work starting onsite from next year.

“Our multi-year reinvestment programme will secure the ultra-long-term future of the Waikato Hydro System,” Gibson says.

“This will play a very important role in complementary future wind development as New Zealand continues to decarbonise its economy.”