Wednesday, June 13, 2012

New Zealand:

Drilling issues for Mighty River (Timaru Herald)

Mighty River Power says it has been having problems drilling wells for a new geothermal plant near Taupo, but claims the project is on track to be completed within budget.

The state-owned energy company, slated to be the first to be partially privatised under the Government's mixed ownership model, is spending up to $466 million building the 82 MWe Ngatamariki, about 17km east of Taupo.

In an update on its development projects released this morning, Mighty River said the second injection well drilled at the site "brought some challenges for the project team" although these remained within the contingency budget for the project.

The statement did not give details on the nature of the problems.