Huntly power station
Encyclopedia
The Huntly Power Station is the largest thermal power station
in New Zealand
and is located in the town of Huntly
in the Waikato
. It is operated by Genesis Power, a state-owned enterprise
, and supplies around 17% of the country's power.
Each of the four original generating units, which are capable of burning coal, gas, or both, installed in stages between 1973 and 1985, is capable of generating 250 MW (Megawatts) of electricity
, giving a generating capacity of 1000 MW. Its chimneys are 150 metres high and each chimney has two flues that are 7 metres in diameter. The plant uses a reheat steam cycle, with C A Parsons
turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers.
In 2004 the power station was upgraded with the addition of a 48MW gas turbine plant, and in 2007 the combined cycle
gas turbine
(CCGT) plant was commissioned. This plant increased the total generating capacity of Huntly by 385 MW (250 MW gas turbine + 135 MW steam turbine). The new turbine is a NZ$ 520 million investment and takes the total installed capacity to 1485MW.
Huntly runs at a load factor
of 85% and is currently used to provide a large amount of the baseload energy needs of the northern North Island
.
, and the remainder mined in New Zealand. The gas for the newer turbines comes from the Maui gas field
in the Taranaki. Previous to the substitution of coal, Huntly used gas from the field to power the generation of the main units as well, but these were switched in the 1990s because of dwindling resources.
The station uses water from the Waikato River
for cooling. However, in order to protect aquatic life, conditions are imposed by the resource consent (issued under the Resource Management Act
), specifying the quantity of water that can be removed by the station along with the maximum temperature of the water when returned to the river (25°C). These conditions mean that on very hot summer days the station cannot operate at maximum capacity, and has sometimes effectively been shut down. A new cooling tower
has been built as part of expansion works at the site, which allows one 250 MW unit to run at full load even during such times.
, New Zealand's largest city, which lies 95 kilometres (59 mi) to the north of the station. It also has connections to supply electricity to Taranaki, the Ruapehu District
and South Waikato, and is the connection point for the local distribution network in the Huntly area.
Two twin-circuit 220 kV lines originate from Huntly - one connecting to Otahuhu
substation in Auckland via Glenbrook and Takanini (HLY-OTA-A), and the other connecting to Taumarunui
via Te Kowhai (HLY-TMN-A), before carrying on to Stratford
in Taranaki. An additional twin-circuit 220 kV deviation exists, connecting Huntly to the Otahuhu to Whakamaru
C line at the newly-commissioned Ohinewai switching station.
The plant, as one of the biggest carbon dioxide
greenhouse gas
generators of the country, contributing over half of New Zealand's emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity generation, has repeatedly drawn the ire of environmentalists
and has been the focus of associated protests. A 2006 government report outlining future climate change
mitigation and energy policies was seen by the operator as a sign that the plant might have to be closed by 2015 under these plans, with around 10 years of design life still remaining. It was also noted that, apart from being difficult to replace as a source of power (due to New Zealand's annually growing generation demand, especially around Auckland
), such a decision would also be uneconomical for the foreseeable future, even if coal prices were to rise.
Resource consents to operate the four coal fired units expire in 2013. Due to increasing costs of coal, equipment reaching its design life and costs due to the emissions trading scheme
, operation of the four steam units is expected to be phased out, with their role declining to dry year, reserve generation. One of the four coal fired units will be taken out of service in 2012, and a second in 2015.
Thermal power station
A thermal power station is a power plant in which the prime mover is steam driven. Water is heated, turns into steam and spins a steam turbine which drives an electrical generator. After it passes through the turbine, the steam is condensed in a condenser and recycled to where it was heated; this...
in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
and is located in the town of Huntly
Huntly, New Zealand
Huntly is a town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 1, 93 kilometres south of Auckland and 35 kilometres north of Hamilton. It is situated on the North Island Main Trunk Railway and straddles the Waikato River.Huntly was called Rahui Pokeka when...
in the Waikato
Waikato
The Waikato Region is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato, Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the northern King Country, much of the Taupo District, and parts of Rotorua District...
. It is operated by Genesis Power, a state-owned enterprise
Government-owned corporation
A government-owned corporation, state-owned company, state-owned entity, state enterprise, publicly owned corporation, government business enterprise, or parastatal is a legal entity created by a government to undertake commercial activities on behalf of an owner government...
, and supplies around 17% of the country's power.
Generation
The Huntly Power Station consists of three separate generating plants - a 1,000 MW coal-and-gas-fired steam plant, a 50 MW gas turbine generator, and a 385 MW combined cycle gas turbine plant.Each of the four original generating units, which are capable of burning coal, gas, or both, installed in stages between 1973 and 1985, is capable of generating 250 MW (Megawatts) of electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
, giving a generating capacity of 1000 MW. Its chimneys are 150 metres high and each chimney has two flues that are 7 metres in diameter. The plant uses a reheat steam cycle, with C A Parsons
C. A. Parsons and Company
C. A. Parsons and Company was a British engineering firm which was once one of the largest employers on Tyneside.-History:The Company was founded by Charles Algernon Parsons in 1889 to produce turbo-generators, his own invention. At the beginning of the Twentieth Century, the company was producing...
turbines and Combustion Engineering boilers.
In 2004 the power station was upgraded with the addition of a 48MW gas turbine plant, and in 2007 the combined cycle
Combined cycle
In electric power generation a combined cycle is an assembly of heat engines that work in tandem off the same source of heat, converting it into mechanical energy, which in turn usually drives electrical generators...
gas turbine
Gas turbine
A gas turbine, also called a combustion turbine, is a type of internal combustion engine. It has an upstream rotating compressor coupled to a downstream turbine, and a combustion chamber in-between....
(CCGT) plant was commissioned. This plant increased the total generating capacity of Huntly by 385 MW (250 MW gas turbine + 135 MW steam turbine). The new turbine is a NZ$ 520 million investment and takes the total installed capacity to 1485MW.
Huntly runs at a load factor
Load factor
Load factor may refer to:* Load factor , the ratio of the lift of an aircraft to its weight* Load factor , the ratio of the number of records to the number of addresses within a data structure...
of 85% and is currently used to provide a large amount of the baseload energy needs of the northern North Island
North Island
The North Island is one of the two main islands of New Zealand, separated from the much less populous South Island by Cook Strait. The island is in area, making it the world's 14th-largest island...
.
Fuel and coolant
Up to 50% of the coal used in the older section of the power plant is imported from IndonesiaIndonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, and the remainder mined in New Zealand. The gas for the newer turbines comes from the Maui gas field
Maui gas field
The Maui natural gas field is the largest gas, natural gas condensate and oil field in New Zealand, producing nearly three-quarters of the country's hydrocarbons, as well as providing energy for electricity generation. It is located in the Tasman Sea, 35 km off the coast of Taranaki and to the...
in the Taranaki. Previous to the substitution of coal, Huntly used gas from the field to power the generation of the main units as well, but these were switched in the 1990s because of dwindling resources.
The station uses water from the Waikato River
Waikato River
The Waikato River is the longest river in New Zealand. In the North Island, it runs for 425 kilometres from the eastern slopes of Mount Ruapehu, joining the Tongariro River system and emptying into Lake Taupo, New Zealand's largest lake. It drains Taupo at the lake's northeastern edge, creates the...
for cooling. However, in order to protect aquatic life, conditions are imposed by the resource consent (issued under the Resource Management Act
Resource Management Act
The Resource Management Act passed in 1991 in New Zealand is a significant, and at times, controversial Act of Parliament. The RMA promotes the sustainable management of natural and physical resources such as land, air and water...
), specifying the quantity of water that can be removed by the station along with the maximum temperature of the water when returned to the river (25°C). These conditions mean that on very hot summer days the station cannot operate at maximum capacity, and has sometimes effectively been shut down. A new cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
has been built as part of expansion works at the site, which allows one 250 MW unit to run at full load even during such times.
Transmission and distribution
Huntly Power Stations's main electricity customer is AucklandAuckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
, New Zealand's largest city, which lies 95 kilometres (59 mi) to the north of the station. It also has connections to supply electricity to Taranaki, the Ruapehu District
Ruapehu District
Ruapehu District is a territorial authority near the centre of New Zealand's North Island.It has an area of 6,730.185 square kilometers and a population of 13,569 at the 2006 census .-Features:...
and South Waikato, and is the connection point for the local distribution network in the Huntly area.
Two twin-circuit 220 kV lines originate from Huntly - one connecting to Otahuhu
Otahuhu
Otahuhu is a suburb of Auckland. It is located to the southeast of the city centre, on a narrow isthmus between an arm of the Manukau Harbour to the west and the Tamaki River estuary to the east...
substation in Auckland via Glenbrook and Takanini (HLY-OTA-A), and the other connecting to Taumarunui
Taumarunui
Taumarunui is a town in the King Country of the central North Island of New Zealand. It is on State Highway 4 and the North Island Main Trunk Railway....
via Te Kowhai (HLY-TMN-A), before carrying on to Stratford
Stratford, New Zealand
Stratford is the only town in the central Taranaki district of Stratford District, New Zealand. It lies beneath the eastern slopes of Mount Taranaki/Egmont, approximately half-way between New Plymouth and Hawera, near the geographic centre of the Taranaki region. The town has a population of...
in Taranaki. An additional twin-circuit 220 kV deviation exists, connecting Huntly to the Otahuhu to Whakamaru
Whakamaru
Whakamaru is a town in the central region of the North Island of New Zealand. The Maori words 'whaka' and 'maru' literally mean to give shelter to, or safeguard....
C line at the newly-commissioned Ohinewai switching station.
Future
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
greenhouse gas
Greenhouse gas
A greenhouse gas is a gas in an atmosphere that absorbs and emits radiation within the thermal infrared range. This process is the fundamental cause of the greenhouse effect. The primary greenhouse gases in the Earth's atmosphere are water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and ozone...
generators of the country, contributing over half of New Zealand's emissions of greenhouse gases from electricity generation, has repeatedly drawn the ire of environmentalists
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
and has been the focus of associated protests. A 2006 government report outlining future climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
mitigation and energy policies was seen by the operator as a sign that the plant might have to be closed by 2015 under these plans, with around 10 years of design life still remaining. It was also noted that, apart from being difficult to replace as a source of power (due to New Zealand's annually growing generation demand, especially around Auckland
Auckland
The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...
), such a decision would also be uneconomical for the foreseeable future, even if coal prices were to rise.
Resource consents to operate the four coal fired units expire in 2013. Due to increasing costs of coal, equipment reaching its design life and costs due to the emissions trading scheme
New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme
The New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme is a national all-sectors all-greenhouse gases all-free allocation uncapped emissions trading scheme...
, operation of the four steam units is expected to be phased out, with their role declining to dry year, reserve generation. One of the four coal fired units will be taken out of service in 2012, and a second in 2015.
In popular culture
In the online game ElectroCity, run by Genesis Energy, coal-fired power stations take the form of Huntly.See also
- Electricity sector in New ZealandElectricity sector in New ZealandThe electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy sources such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. The 70% share of renewable energy sources makes New Zealand one of the lowest carbon dioxide emitting countries in terms of electricity generation....
- Genesis Energy
- Marsden BMarsden BMarsden B was an unused 250MW oil fired power station near the Marsden Point Oil Refinery at Marsden Point, Ruakaka, Northland, New Zealand. Due to rising oil prices, the plant was mothballed in 1978 without ever being commissioned...
External links
- Huntly Power Station (from the Genesis Power website)