New geothermal plant to cost more, but deliver more electricity

Contact is expanding its geothermal portfolio near Taupō. (Image: supplied)

Tue, 08 Feb 2022

Contact Energy’s new Tauhara geothermal power station near Taupō is going to cost more to build and take longer to complete, but it will deliver more electricity than originally estimated. When the investment was announced in 2021, it was going to cost $678 million, be completed by the middle of 2023 and have a 152 megawatts (MW) capacity. This has been upgraded to 168MW at cost of $818m and could be completed in the second half of 2023. Contact chief executive Mike Fuge said Tauhara would generate more electricity than was...

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