MERCURY MOBILE
The road across Karāpiro Dam is currently open. We are currently working on a $75million upgrade to the Karāpiro Hydro Power Station. This is a project that is expected to continue until 2025. The first part of this project has been completed, and the first of three units has been upgraded. On 5 May 2023, our contractors Andritz hosted a delegation led by Austrian Minister of Labour and Economy Martin Kocher and ambassador Wolfgang Strohmayer to visit Karapiro Power Station. You can read more about this visit and see photos in this story at Cambridge News. NEXT STAGES We acknowledge that access to the road over Karāpiro Dam has been part of the landscape for 75 years and not having access during our refurbishment of the power station can be inconvenient for locals and other road users. This is a major works project and we will be continuing with station upgrade with the removal and replacement of the 2nd unit and headgate which will mean that the road across the dam will need to close again from 31 July 2023 through to mid-May 2024. Work on the third unit will occur over a similar time frame in the following year. FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS Are you allowed to close the road? While the public are allowed to use the road that crosses the dam, it’s actually privately-owned by Mercury. Under the rules of the easement that Mercury has with Waipa District Council, Mercury is allowed to restrict public access when we need to maintain the dam.
Will there be access for pedestrians and cyclists when the road is closed to traffic? We are exploring options to see if this will be viable in time for the upgrade of the second unit commencing August 2023, however, ultimately the safety of everyone is our primary concern.
Why is Mercury doing this? It’s vital that we maintain and, where possible, improve upon our generation assets to make sure they continue to provide as much renewable energy to New Zealanders as possible. We have nine dam structures on the Waikato hydro system aged 60 to 97 years. About $350 million is being spent on the rejuvenation of these dams over the next 15 years. Construction of Karāpiro Hydro Power Station was completed in 1947 and it was commissioned in 1948. This is the first time since the station was commissioned that the turbines have been replaced. This project will extend the asset’s life by 50 years and make the power station more efficient.
How much more efficient will it be? When the upgrade is complete the station will generate an additional 16.5MW, taking output from 96MW to 112.5MW and average energy production by 32GWh to 537GWh each year. This means that Karāpiro power station will generate, enough new renewable power for approximately 19,000 New Zealand homes. That’s 17% more than its current output.