KEY POINTS:
Low hydro lakes and rising winter power demand have pushed Contact Energy to fire up one of its mothballed generators at the New Plymouth power station.
The power station was closed in December last year after asbestos was found in areas where it was not thought to have been.
Its discovery prompted the company to consider closing the 31 year old, 300 megawatt station altogether. Considered old and inefficient, the plant was used for back-up generation and took up to 15 hours to reach full capacity when called on.
Contact chief executive David Baldwin said the company had been "looking at innovative ways it could make a meaningful contribution to meeting winter peak demand at a time when hydro storage levels are very low".
Hydro storage is at its lowest for this time of year since the 1992 power crisis and the electricity industry has launched a website to make it easy for the public to check supply details.
The opportunity had arisen where a 100 megawatt unit at New Plymouth could be recommissioned and operated across the coldest weeks of this winter without compromising safety, said Baldwin. It is expected to be available from early next month.
"The safety of our people is Contact's absolute priority," he said."Contact staff are already working in the 'containment area' as part of the asbestos removal project, and every person involved in recommissioning and operating this unit will have the same level of protection as those involved in the asbestos removal programme."
Contact said it has discussed the recommissioning project with the Department of Labour's Occupational Safety and Health Service, which is satisfied with the steps Contact has in place to ensure staff safety.
"While electricity supply will remain tight, an additional 100 megawatts of electricity will make an important contribution to meeting peak demand over the winter," he said.
- NZ HERALD
