New Plymouth Power Station

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The New Plymouth Power Station was a 600 MW thermal power station at New Plymouth. Located at Port Taranaki, it was dual fuelled on natural gas and fuel oil. Constructed at a time of major hydro and HV transmission developments, it was New Zealand's first big thermal power station planned for continuous base load operation.The plant has been owned and operated by NZED, NZE, ECNZ and Contact Energy. In 2013, the site was sold to Port Taranaki and Methanex.HistoryThe power station project commenced in the 1960s, to meet rising electricity demand in New Zealand. Initially, fuel for this power station was to be coal, barged up from the West Coast, and the Port Taranaki site was chosen ahead of one at Wanganui. During early stages of the project, the Maui gas field was discovered off Taranaki. The plant design was changed to be dual fuel on either natural gas or heavy fuel oil.The first unit was commissioned in February 1974, with the fifth unit coming on line in 1976. For the first few years, the plant ran on raw Kapuni gas. In 1979, the plant converted to Maui gas following the completion of the pipeline from Oaonui production station. The pipeline from Kapuni was re-purposed to supply Maui gas to Kapuni and onwards to the lower North Island.