The scheme, to be known as Esk Hydro, will consist of two separate generating stations that draw on separate tributaries of the Esk River.
The Esk hydro scheme is TrustPower's first generation project in the Hawkes Bay region. The project was initiated nearly 10 years ago by the owners of the land on which the scheme will be built. TrustPower then acquired the rights to the project more than five years ago.
The scheme is fully resource consented, and follows the same environmentally sensitive design strategy as Trust Power's proposed schemes for the Arnold River on the South Island West Coast, and the Wairau River in Marlborough, in not requiring the damming of any waterways, and the use of relatively small and compact intakes and powerhouses.
The project will also be the first significant scale generation project in the region that does not rely on Transpower's National Grid, and will therefore increase the efficiency of electricity supply to Hawke's Bay.
The transmission solution was a key milestone for the project, requiring collaboration across many divisions of the Unison Group, both with TrustPower and with TrustPower's consulting engineers.
TrustPower expects the $13M scheme, which has an expected annual output of 15GWh, to be commissioned in June 2013.
Contractors engaged for the project are as follows:
• Civil Construction - MAP Projects
• Generators/turbine plant and equipment - AIE Hydroworks
• Transmission - Unison Consulting
• GRP penstocks - Maskell
• Steel penstocks - Pipes NZ
• Civil; Design - SKM
