In September 2007, asbestos was discovered in areas of the plant where it was not previously recorded on the plant’s asbestos register, and the plant was shut down immediately. Since then Contact has examined a range of options in relation to the future of the plant and last week it started consulting with staff over a proposal to close the plant.
Chief executive David Baldwin said that the retirement of the New Plymouth power station has been driven both by the age of the plant, its operational and environmental inefficiency, and the increasing need for thermal power stations to be fast-start, efficient and flexible in order to support greater levels of fluctuating renewable generation.
Mr Baldwin said: The New Plymouth power station has played an important role in New Zealand’s energy sector over the last three decades, and the staff who have been employed at the site have made an important contribution to New Zealand’s energy supply.
