Southdown Power Station
Encyclopedia
Southdown Power Station is a natural gas
-fired combined cycle
gas turbine
cogeneration
power station in Southdown
, a suburb in southern Auckland City
, New Zealand. It is New Zealand's northernmost power station with a capacity exceeding 50 MW.
Southdown is owned and operated by state-owned electricity generator Mighty River Power, and is designed to complement the company's renewable hydroelectric and geothermal
stations. The station, strategically located in the south-central Auckland urban area, provides voltage support for the city, and helps meet the peak demand requirements in the Auckland region. Southdown is also extensively used during dry periods, when there is insufficient water to run Mighty River Power's eight hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River
at full capacity.
Apart from generating 170 MW of electricity for the wider Auckland area, Southdown also provides steam to the local industrial area near the station. At full capacity, the station can provide 180 tonnes (177 LT) of steam per hour, piped from the station to consumers at pressures of 155 &.
Natural gas
Natural gas is a naturally occurring gas mixture consisting primarily of methane, typically with 0–20% higher hydrocarbons . It is found associated with other hydrocarbon fuel, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is an important fuel source and a major feedstock for fertilizers.Most natural...
-fired 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....
cogeneration
Cogeneration
Cogeneration is the use of a heat engine or a power station to simultaneously generate both electricity and useful heat....
power station in Southdown
Southdown, New Zealand
Southdown is an industrial suburb of Auckland City, New Zealand. The former main company in the suburb was the Southdown Freezing Works, part of a large industrial zone located near the main trunk railway at this point...
, a suburb in southern Auckland City
Auckland City
Auckland City was the city and local authority covering the Auckland isthmus and most of the islands of the Hauraki Gulf, in the North Island of New Zealand. On 1 November 2010 it was amalgamated into the wider Auckland Region under the authority of the new Auckland Council...
, New Zealand. It is New Zealand's northernmost power station with a capacity exceeding 50 MW.
Southdown is owned and operated by state-owned electricity generator Mighty River Power, and is designed to complement the company's renewable hydroelectric and geothermal
Geothermal
Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to:* The geothermal gradient and associated heat flows from within the Earth- Renewable technology :...
stations. The station, strategically located in the south-central Auckland urban area, provides voltage support for the city, and helps meet the peak demand requirements in the Auckland region. Southdown is also extensively used during dry periods, when there is insufficient water to run Mighty River Power's eight hydroelectric power stations on 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...
at full capacity.
Apart from generating 170 MW of electricity for the wider Auckland area, Southdown also provides steam to the local industrial area near the station. At full capacity, the station can provide 180 tonnes (177 LT) of steam per hour, piped from the station to consumers at pressures of 155 &.