The Huntly power station is the largest thermal power station in New Zealand and is located in the town of Huntly in the Waikato. It is operated by Genesis Power, a state-owned enterprise, and supplies around 17% of the country's power.
Each of the four main coal-fired units, installed in stages between 1973 and 1985, is capable of generating 250 MW (Megawatts) of electricity, giving the station a total generating capacity of 1000 MW, plus 50MW from a gas turbine commissioned in 2004. Its chimneys are 150 metres high and each chimney has two flues that are 7 metres in diameter.
The operator has recently (2004-2007) constructed a combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) plant next to the existing station. This plant increased the total generating capacity of Huntly by 385 MW (250 MW gas turbine + 135 MW steam turbine). The new turbine is a NZ$ 520 million investment.
Huntly runs at a load factor of 85%, about twice what the best wind farms could achieve in New Zealand, and is currently used to provide a large amount of the baseline energy needs of the northern North Island - in other words, it is rarely running substantially below peak capacity. (Full article...)