New Zealand Hydropower Producers Turn to Major Life Extension, Refurbishment Projects

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--Power producers have embarked on substantial modernization and life extension programs in the Oceania region over the last few years to maximize the value of their generation assets. During 2014 and 2015, Australia will see refurbishments and replacements at 27 power plants for an estimated cost of $551 million, while New Zealand will see refurbishments and replacements at seven power plants for about $31 million. Papua New Guinea's Ramu Hydro plant will see $19 million in refurbishment projects.

A majority of the New Zealand power plants undergoing refurbishments are hydropower plants, which account for more than $25 million of the total. The economic lifetime of a hydro plant is typically between 40 and 80 years, depending on the operating conditions of the installed plant machinery.

New Zealand currently operates power plants commissioned more than half a century ago that more than likely have outlived their useful lives. To achieve high availability and reliability of operations at these old power stations, the companies have decided to undertake major overhaul, rehabilitation, upgrading and replacement of existing hydro-mechanical and electrical equipment.

Several companies, including Contact Energy Limited (Wellington, New Zealand), Genesis Energy Limited (Wellington) and Meridian Energy Limited (Wellington), are planning to perform major renovation, refurbishing, upgrading and modernization at some of their small hydro plants, hoping to harness optimal hydropower potential at the sites.

Contact Energy Limited (Wellington, New Zealand) will perform main transformer replacement on two of its units at the Roxburgh Hydroelectric Power Station, totalling about $5 million. Contact Energy also is conducting major refurbishment on the 47-megawatt (MW) steam turbine at the Ohaaki Geothermal Plant in January 2014 for eight weeks.

Another electricity giant, Mighty River Power Limited (NZX:MRP, ASX:MYT) (Auckland, New Zealand), operates nine hydropower stations as part of the Waikato Hydro System. The company has contracted with ABB Limited (Auckland, New Zealand) to perform major refurbishments on one of the units at Karapiro Hydro plant in 2014.

Genesis Energy Limited and Todd Energy Limited (Wellington) are also on the list, with more than $10 million of projects in the pipeline commencing in 2014 and 2015.

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