Westpower to Invest $120 Million in Two Hydropower Plants in New Zealand

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Westpower Limited (Greymouth, New Zealand), a community-owned business, will invest $120 million to build two hydropower plants to add electricity to the national grid. Westpower supplies electricity throughout the west coast of New Zealand. Electronet, a wholly owned subsidiary of Westpower, is currently conducting prefeasibility studies and project scope for the Waitaha project.

The Waitaha hydro scheme project will have an installed capacity of 20 megawatts (MW) and will be equipped with two hydraulic turbines of 10 MW each. The project is near the Waitaha River, located 38 kilometers south of Hokitika, New Zealand. Electronet is working on early-stage feasibility and analysis for the project, and it expects an outcome and approvals in the first half of 2013.

With environmental and resource consent approvals yet to be granted, Electronet is hoping to begin the project development (including design and engineering) during 2014. Construction is expected to commence in June 2015 and last about 18 months. By the end of 2016, the hydro project will begin operations, according to Roger Griffiths, the project manager of the Electronet. The estimated investment for this project is $80 million.

Waitaha project will be able to generate a peak output of about 16 to 20 MW of electricity, meeting 25% of the West Coast's energy needs. The power plant will produce approximately 110 to 120 gigawatt-hours of electricity per year, enough to fulfill power needs to 12,000 households.

In addition to the Waitaha Scheme, Westpower is constructing a 7-MW hydro generation scheme on the Amethyst River, north of Harihari, New Zealand. This project is currently under construction, and the company is looking forward to beginning the commercial operation of the plant by April 2013.

The Amethyst River Hydro Scheme will provide a peak output of 7 MW and will cost Westpower about $40 million. Investigations show that such schemes are economically feasible and are beneficial to local communities, because they assist in reducing transmission losses and contribute to security of supply.

Both Waitaha and Amethyst will be built as peak-load power stations to provide the reliable delivery of electricity to Westpower's business and domestic consumers.

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