How does the Wairakei power station work?

How does the Wairakei power station work?

The hot geothermal fluid that is extracted is originally cold rainwater that had percolated downwards and been heated by hot rock; pumping back the warm water that emerges from the exhaust of the generator system thus reduces the heat drawn from the ground.

Who owns Wairakei power station?

the Crown
The well is currently owned by the Crown, although it is situated in the Contact Energy owned part of the steamfield. Wairākei power houses. Aerial view taken during open day to celebrate 50 years of operation, 15 November 2008.

How many geothermal power plants are there in New Zealand?

19 geothermal power plants
As of today, New Zealand has an installed power generation capacity of 1,005 MW, or as NZGA describes as 957 MW (net) capacity presented by 19 geothermal power plants.

How many power stations are there in NZ?

In New Zealand, we operate 38 hydro power stations across 19 hydroelectric power schemes.

How does the Ohaaki power station work in Taupo?

It is 70 m diameter at the base, and 40 m at the throat. The tower will remove 420 MW of heat from the 20,000 tonnes per hour of circulating water as it falls through an induced flow of air. The evaporation of a small fraction of water provides the necessary cooling of the circulating water.

How much power does the Clyde dam generate?

432 megawatts
Clyde. The Clyde Dam on Lake Dunstan is the largest concrete gravity dam in New Zealand. There is a million cubic metres of concrete in the dam with another 200,000 cubic metres in the powerhouse. The power station is capable of producing 432 megawatts (MW) of power from its four turbine generator units.

What percentage of electricity comes from geothermal?

Geothermal energy currently accounts for 0.4% of net electricity generation in the United States.

How much electricity does a geothermal power plant produce?

Geothermal power plants produce about 0.4% of the United States’ overall electricity output, amounting to 16.7 kWh in 2018.

What is the biggest power station in New Zealand?

Manapōuri
Manapōuri generates enough electricity each year for about 619,000 average New Zealand homes. Manapōuri is the largest hydro power station in New Zealand, and is located on the edge of Lake Manapōuri’s West Arm in the Fiordland National Park, which has UNESCO World Heritage status as part of Te Wāhipounamu.

How big is the Wairakei geothermal power plant?

Wairakei, the first geothermal plant of its kind anywhere in the world, is an iconic symbol of New Zealand’s electricity generation system. The Wairakei A and B stations have 10 steam turbines ranging in size from 4–30 megawatts (MW). The station’s capacity is 132 MW.

When was the first generator installed at Wairakei?

This brought the total gross installed capacity of the Wairakei development to 193 MW. The first turbine-generator unit (G2) was synchronized to the national grid at an official ceremony on 15 November 1958, and the last machine (G13) was commissioned in October 1963. A further 60 MW extension was allowed for in the design, but this never happened.

What was the mixture of steam and liquid at Wairakei?

In the 1950s only the steam component could be utilized in the power generation process and it was therefore necessary to separate the steam from the liquid. At Wairakei, geothermal fluid delivered to the wellhead was a two-phase mixture consisting of around 20% steam and 80% liquid.

Where is the Wairakei reservoir in New Zealand?

The field covers between 20 and 25Km2 and lies 8 km north of Taupo along State Highway 1. Pressure changes show that the Wairakei reservoir is partially connected to the adjacent Tauhara Field. By administrative convention, the Waikato River marks the boundary between Wairakei and Tauhara fields.