Monday, August 12, 2019

New Zealand: Contact Commits to Drill Four Geothermal Appraisal Wells at Tauhara

Contact Energy's earnings rise 12 per cent (News Release)

Contact Energy said full-year operating earnings from continuing operations rose 12 per cent, boosted by a strong performance from the firm's generation and wholesale business.

Among the highlights are a commitment to drill four geothermal appraisal wells at Tauhara in anticipation of a final investment decision to develop a new renewable power station.

“New Zealand is undergoing a transformation from reliance on fossil fuels to renewable electricity. Contact is well placed to meet the expected growth in electricity demand which will result in meaningful reductions to the nation’s carbon emissions by developing our large-scale consented geothermal development options backed by our world-class geothermal capability and strong balance sheet”, said Chief executive Dennis Barnes.

“After successfully lowering the cost of geothermal since our last build, we are taking the next step towards developing the geothermal power station project we have consented at Tauhara by committing to drill a series of four appraisal wells.

We remain focussed on delivering on our transformation programme to reduce controllable costs, and seek opportunities to capture value from scale efficiencies through brownfield geothermal development and by leveraging our customer systems and lean operating model to improve returns”, Mr Barnes said.

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