Auckland, New Zealand [RenewableEnergyAccess.com] Contact Energy has announced the company’s intent to develop an approximately 20-megawatt (MW) geothermal electricity generation binary plant in Taupo New Zealand.
The geothermal steam would be piped to the binary plant through approximately one kilometer of pipe, with all used geothermal fluid re-injected back into the edge of the steam field. This facility is part of Contact’s plan to meet the New Zealand Government’s goal of 90 percent of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2025.
“This project will take geothermal steam from the Tauhara steam field and produce enough renewable electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes,” said Contact CEO David Baldwin. “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 225 MW that we hope to have in service by 2012. Resource consent applications will be filed for this project in 2008.”
