Our investment in harnessing geothermal energy has improved the shape of our business.
Our growth over the past decade has been focused on securing and developing the lowest-cost generation development options in New Zealand. To date this has been focused on highly economic geothermal generation, through a partnership approach with landowners and other stakeholders in these natural resources.
Our recent geothermal developments in New Zealand – including Nga Awa Purua, commissioned in 2010 and Kawerau, commissioned in 2008 – collectively represent one of the largest geothermal development programmes by any company anywhere in the world over the past five years. Including the completion of Ngatamariki plant, currently under development, this represents a total value of $1.76 billion and about 460MW (or nearly 4,000GWh per year) under operation by 2013.
It is our view that geothermal and wind will be the main fuels of choice for new generation development in New Zealand over the next decade. We have already secured future growth opportunities in these renewable fuel types.