25 February 2021

New Zealand

SC has concluded an agreement for construction work on the Tauhara Geothermal Power Station (152-megawatt generation capacity) with Contact Energy Limited, a major private-sector electricity generation utility in New Zealand.

Achieving a “decarbonised” society that reduces global warming-inducing greenhouse gas emissions to zero has globally become a significant social issue in recent years, and geothermal power generation has been garnering attention as an eco-friendly and reliable source of electric power that does not require fossil fuels and is not easily susceptible to weather conditions. The Power Station will be the largest single-turbine geothermal power station in the world, surpassing the 140-megawatt Nga Awa Purua Geothermal Power Station in New Zealand handed over by SC in 2010, and will be constructed on the Tauhara field, one of New Zealand’s largest geothermal areas located near Lake Taupo in the center of New Zealand’s North Island.

SC has previously teamed up with Fuji Electric on two occasions to construct geothermal power stations in New Zealand, and the Power Station will be their third such project. SC is striving to become carbon-neutral by 2050. By steadily fulfilling its responsibilities under the new agreement, it will be assisting New Zealand in attaining a sustainable society and advancing social development and evolution.

The envisioned Tauhara geothermal power plant to be completed 2023

Map of power station location