Sumitomo Corporation - Tauhara Geothermal Power Station in New Zealand, the world's largest geothermal power plant, begins operation
Published on 08/14/2024 at 08:08,
updated on 08/14/2024 at 08:09
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Sumitomo Corporation (Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director, President and CEO: Ueno Shingo) is pleased to announce that the Tauhara Geothermal Power Plant (hereinafter, 'the Power Plant'), for which it was contracted to build by Contact Energy Limited (Head Office: Wellington, New Zealand; CEO: Mike Fuge; hereinafter, 'Contact Energy'), a major private power generation company in New Zealand, was completed in June of this year, and major adjustment work was completed by early August, with the plant now in stable operation.
The geothermal power plant boasts a single generator capacity of 184MW, making it one of the largest in the world.
The New Zealand government has set a goal of achieving 100 percent renewable energy utilization by 2030. In particular, geothermal power generation is being actively developed in the country, as the country has the fifth largest installed geothermal power generation capacity in the world and provides a stable source of electricity that is less affected by time of day, weather, or season.
The power plant has a generating capacity of 184MW, and its annual electricity output is equivalent to the electricity used by approximately 200,000 homes, which is approximately 3.5 percent of New Zealand's total electricity generation(Note 1).
Although the power plant, which Sumitomo Corporation started construction on in February 2021, was affected by COVID-19, it was completed 41 days ahead of the contract deadline and handed over to Contact Energy on June 24th of this year. Since Sumitomo Corporation was the first Japanese company to be undertaken in Australia for the entire process from design to procurement and construction of a geothermal power plant with the Kawerau Geothermal Power Plant, which was completed in 2008, it has achieved early completion of all three projects, including the Nu Awa Purwa Geothermal Power Plant, which was completed in 2010. The project was steadily carried out thanks to Sumitomo Corporation's know-how in power plant construction that it has accumulated globally and its collaboration of more than 40 years with Fuji Electric Co., Ltd., the largest manufacturer of steam turbines for geothermal power plants.
With the completion of this power plant, the total installed capacity of geothermal power plants in which Sumitomo Corporation has been involved in the construction or supply of equipment has reached 2,700 MW, accounting for 17 percent of the world's share.(Note 2) Sumitomo Corporation has positioned renewable energy businesses as a focus area in its medium-term management plan, and will continue to aim to participate in the construction of new geothermal power plants with a view to further developing renewable energy sources.
Sumitomo Corp is an integrated trading company. It operates through six business segments: Metal Products, which includes various metal products, such as steel products and non-ferrous metal products; Transportation & Construction Systems, which is engaged in transactions involving ships, aircrafts, transportation systems, motor vehicles, construction equipment, and related components and parts; Infrastructure, which is engaged in a range of overseas infrastructure development projects, such as power generation, renewable energy business and others; Media and Digital, which is engaged in cable television (TV) operations and movie business, among others; Life and Real Estate, which includes food supermarkets, healthcare-related businesses, facility and fund management, real estate business and others, and Mineral Resources and Chemical, which is engaged in the development and trading of mineral and energy resources and commodity derivative transactions.
