Visitors toured Te Mihi power station on Broadlands Rd as part of the Geothermal Week activities. Photo / Amplify
Against a backdrop of four geothermal power stations being built or expanded in the Taupō area, this year’s NZ Geothermal Week took on extra energy, with over 2500 tickets snapped up for a host of events.
Co-hosted by Taupō economic development agency Amplify and the NZ Geothermal Association, a record 240 delegates attended the anchor event, the New Zealand Geothermal Association’s Winter Seminar, with 70 companies represented in the audience.
Amplify geothermal lead Fiona Miller said the week served as an opportunity for industry players to connect and share ideas, and for locals to find out more about the geothermal power in the district.
Most of the geothermal power stations in New Zealand are located within the Taupō Volcanic Zone, near the towns of Taupō, Rotorua, and Kawerau.
Miller said industry delegates, scientists, educators, investors and policymakers from around New Zealand attended seminars, field trips, workshops and networking events and a highlight was a visit to the nearly complete $818 million Tauhara Power Station off Broadlands Rd.
There was also a high level of interest in a “Geoheat for Horticulture” workshop, about the use of geothermal heat for indoor growing, followed by a field trip to see sites around the Taupō district, including large-scale tomato glasshouses.
Contact Energy’s general manager of geothermal resources Mike Dunstall was a guest speaker at an Acacia Bay Residents’ Association meeting, and five formal networking events were well attended.
A Women in Geothermal (WING) awards evening saw Kerin Brockbank from Contact Energy win the coveted Wahine award, and local businesspeople mingled with industry delegates at a Contact Energy BA5 event.
Miller said that the lineup of events reflected the importance of geothermal in both providing the country with power and boosting the economy.
“There are currently six major exploration, expansion and new build projects under way in the wider Taupō Volcanic Zone, equating to well over $2 billion of investment.
“A third of this is estimated to be spent on local services, including construction and engineering services and supporting professional services for those firms, such as legal and accounting services, not to mention accommodation and hospitality spend.”
Other events included a photo competition sponsored by Mercury, which attracted winning entries from both the public and industry, and a GNS Science schools’ competition saw schools around the Taupō Volcanic Zone enter their ideas.
Tauhara College Year 11 student Stevie Manunui presented her team’s winning entry from 2021, a vision for the future of geothermal in the Taupō district, which was very well received by the Winter Seminar audience.
Youngsters attending Toddler Time at the Taupō and Tūrangi libraries crafted volcano art after hearing the story of Ngātoroirangi, and the libraries were gifted a new children’s book that explains the five renewable energy resources and how they can be harnessed to provide us with power.
The finale of the week’s events was the free open day, where Contact Energy opened up Te Mihi Power Station to over 400 locals.
The tour included a bus trip through the Wairakei steam field followed by a guided foot tour of Te Mihi Power Station, both normally closed to the public.
Many families went along on the trip, with locals from 2 months to over 80 years old donning protective clothing and glasses to tour the turbines at Te Mihi, with Contact Energy staff providing commentary, answering questions and handing out spot prizes.