Benmore was commissioned by the State Hydroelectric Department between March 1963 and May 1965 after the New Zealand Electricity Department had struggled for some time with the problem of connecting the hydro-power rich South Island to the energy-hungry North Island over the Cook Strait.
Energy NZ joins Gordon Fletcher on the eve of his retirement, as he reflects on a career touching on half a century in hydro generation and the daily work routine at one of the country’s most interesting hydro projects.
A company specialising in modestly sized wind generation projects demonstrates how to capitalise on smaller sites with strong wind resources and existing distribution lines.
New Zealand has a stack of onshore oil and gas for the taking in the form of solid coal that could supply all of its fuel demands and more – no exploration, no drilling and no pumping.
Solid Energy has plans for an underground coal gasification (UCG) pilot plant in the Waikato, while L&M Energy has applied for a permit to explore the potential for gasifying coal underground over a 2000 square kilometre area stretching north and south of Hamilton.
The coal to gas technology which Solid Energy and L&M Energy are investigating, owes a lot for its development to Lenin and Soviet Union engineers.
Jim Lawless wears several hats, all geothermally warmed, and he is hot over Government apathy.
West Coasters are suddenly rushing to generate electricity from their famously high rainfall.
New Zealand’s first marine energy may first start generating electricity on the Chatham Islands taking energy from waves as they crash onto a rocky shoreline.
US President Barack Obama’s banning of deepwater drilling in American waters may mean more global explorers take another look at such frontier countries as New Zealand, and idle deepwater drilling rigs may make the opportunity even sweeter.
After 170 years you would have reason to expect the country to have sorted out who owns what, yet the coast is under another legislative change as the Government prepares to remove the foreshore and seabed from Crown ownership and make it ‘public space’, owned by no one.
With the latest award of an offshore exploration permit to a government-owned multi-national energy company, Kensington Swan views the merits of a national (state-owned) exploration and production company.
The ongoing evolution of the electricity market provides a better option than intervention for ensuring security of electricity supply, writes Fraser Clark, chief executive of the New Zealand Wind Energy Association.
It is has become increasingly apparent that many firms just have no idea if the New Zealand Emissions Trading Scheme (NZ ETS) applies to them or not.
The country has never been short of innovative scientists who have contributed significantly to the progress of world’s energy activities and now added to that list is a pair helping to revolutionise the way we use and distribute energy.
The last watch
Weld cone: A lesson in scale
Black gold for the taking
Plans for our first UCG plant
Thank you comrade
Talking up steam
West Coast hydro renaissance
Wave energy on the move
Deepwater frontiers
Foreshore and seabed - the second chapter
Time to consider State-owned petroleum
In defence of the market
ETS: Confusion and inequity
Recognising scientific contribution