Business Central February 2021

42 | ENERGY Contact Energy Tapping into geothermal potential Richard Loader to page 44 General Engineering - Pipeline Construction - Geothermal - Civil Engineering - Bulk Transport Waitara - Head Office PH: (06) 754 8602 Email: adam@warnerconstruction.co.nz Address: 36 Norman Street, Waitara, New Plymouth 4320 Taupo PH: (07) 376 5753 Email: grant@warnerconstruction.co.nz Address: 32 Manuka Street, Tauhara, Taupo 3330 Bell Block - Civil PH: (06) 755 4504 Email: adam@warnerconstruction.co.nz Address: 65 De Havilland Drive, Bell Block, New Plymouth 4312 www.warnerconstruction.co.nz A s New Zealand, like every country on plant Earth, looks to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels and reduce its carbon footprint, the focus is on renewable resources, where they can be obtained and how they can be utilised. New Zealand is in a particularly blessed sit- uation in respect to geothermal energy, with a world-class resource and a population of just five million to support. With the combined resources of wind, hy- dro and geothermal, New Zealand’s electricity production is well on the way to being almost entirely from renewable means — sometimes reaching 80 – 85% in any given year. Contact Energy’s GM Geothermal Resources and Development, Mike Dunstall, reflects that geothermal has a great role in helping to sub- stitute fossil fuels, particularly in commercial operations. “There’s a lot of industrial heat that we could supply from geothermal that would displace gas or coal,” says Mike. “As a country we’re looking to displace fossil fuels to de-carbonise. To do that the main alternative is electrification. In the transport sector we’re seeing electric cars growing in popularity and manufacturers saying they will cease manufacturing petrol and diesel vehicles within the next 10 – 15 years. That’s not very far away. “That electricity has to be obtained from somewhere. “You want that energy source to be eco-friendly and geothermal is available 24/7. I think geothermal has a really big role to play.” “You want that energy source to be eco-friendly and geothermal is available 24/7. “I think geothermal has a really big role to play,” says Mike. Contact Energy has five geothermal stations within a 30-kilometre radius in the Central North Island; Te Mihi, Wairakei, Poihipi Road —all on the Wairakei geothermal system — Ohaaki on the Ohaaki field and Te Huka on the Tauhara geothermal system. Tauhara is a very large field in comparison to the scale it has currently been developed to and there is resource consent to build another large power station there at some point in the future.