Meridian innovation supplies more energy than capacity of two wind farms combined

Meridian Energy says it has applied technology to squeeze more energy out of its existing assets - enough to supply electricity to between 60,000 and 80,000 homes.

The renewable energy company was able to deliver about 83 megawatts (MW) of additional capacity from existing hydro generators through engineering advances, in addition to 36 MW through managing existing hydro stations and wind farms.

In February Meridian revealed it had returned to profitability after last year's dry year, with a net profit of $227m , and said it was focusing on enhancing the performance of existing assets.

Meridian generation general manager Tania Palmer said, "it's basically 'new capacity' from what we already have - without new consenting - and it helps keep the system steady as demand grows, especially when wind and solar are low."

Palmer said it was more energy than the combined capacity of the company's Te Uku and White Hill wind farms.

"A current initiative at our Ōhau C station is focused on getting an extra 2 MW of peaking capacity out of each of the four generating units - enough to power roughly 8000 homes.

"Our engineers are also working on applying these changes to the upstream Ōhau B sister station, which would achieve a total of 16 additional MW."

Meridian was also aiming to achieve more capacity gains by reducing equipment downtime.

For example, changing scheduled maintenance at Manapōuri Power Station had resulted in an additional 7 MW worth of generation that wouldn't have been otherwise available.

Meridian was currently exploring upgrades of Waitaki and Ōhau A, B and C hydro power stations over the coming years, which could deliver more than 80MW in additional generation capacity.

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