Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Te Mihi goes full steam ahead

By Laurilee McMichael
Rotorua Daily Post·
14 Aug, 2014 02:15 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

OPENING: An aerial shot of the new Te Mihi power station. PHOTO/SUPPLIED 130814MIHI

OPENING: An aerial shot of the new Te Mihi power station. PHOTO/SUPPLIED 130814MIHI

Taupo's reputation as a centre for energy generation takes another step forward today when Contact Energy opens its new Te Mihi Uenukukopako Power Station.

Located on Oruanui Rd near Taupo, the 166MW station - large enough to power 160,000 homes - cost $623 million to build. It began operating in October last year and it was connected to the national grid in November 2013 at full load. Te Mihi has two steam turbines and a vast network of pipes connects it to the Wairakei steamfield.

Contact says the new power station has been designed to be flexible, making the best use of geothermal steam and maximising the amount of electricity it can produce, which in turn minimises the cost to produce each megawatt of electricity.

Geothermal steam and water is brought to the surface through a series of production wells and the steam is separated from the water and piped to the power station. There it spins a turbine which generates electricity, which is fed into the national grid at 220,000 volts. The separated geothermal water is reinjected underground.

The station took nearly three years to build and employed up to 500 people at its peak, many of them Taupo locals. In addition, around 20 New Zealand contracting companies worked on the project, with an estimated $60 million invested locally through the subcontractors.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The station now employs some 20 workers and contractors to oversee the ongoing operation and maintenance.

Contact Energy chief executive Dennis Barnes said Te Mihi ushered in a new era of efficiency and environmental responsibility in using the Wairakei geothermal resource.

"We are pleased to welcome Te Mihi into Contact's geothermal family. This flexible, fully integrated power station ensures that we can continue to efficiently meet the energy needs of New Zealanders today and into the future."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

It will be formally opened today by Deputy Prime Minister Bill English.

The new Te Mihi Power Station brings Contact's geothermal power stations in the Taupo district to six in total, although the 56-year-old Wairakei Power Station on the banks of the Waikato River is due to be fully retired by 2026.

Discover more

Kuirau Park steam burst [+video]

15 Jul 09:04 PM
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Rotorua Daily Post

Small town's mayor says campus closure would condemn locals to poverty

Rotorua Daily Post

Median house price falls in Auckland, increases in regions

Premium
Rotorua Daily Post

'Extremely rare move' – consultant has developer put into receivership


Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Small town's mayor says campus closure would condemn locals to poverty
Rotorua Daily Post

Small town's mayor says campus closure would condemn locals to poverty

Toi Ohomai Te Pūkenga put forward a proposal to disestablish the jobs of 166 people.

15 Jul 06:00 AM
Median house price falls in Auckland, increases in regions
Rotorua Daily Post

Median house price falls in Auckland, increases in regions

14 Jul 09:54 PM
Premium
Premium
'Extremely rare move' – consultant has developer put into receivership
Rotorua Daily Post

'Extremely rare move' – consultant has developer put into receivership

13 Jul 11:00 PM


Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
Sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

06 Jul 09:47 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP