Motukawa Hydro-electric Power Scheme

Contents

History

Location

Generation Capacity

Scheme Overview

Scheme Map

History

Hydro-electric power generation was first explored in the area to provide supply to the town of Eltham. In 1923, the Taranaki Electric Power Board approved the design for Motukawa Hydro-electric Power Scheme, which would make use of the natural elevation drop of 122m between the Manganui River near Tariki, and the Waitara River near Motukawa.

 

The scheme was created by building a weir on the Manganui River (a tributary of the Waitara River) to divert water via a canal to a storage lake at Ratapiko, created by building an earth dam across the Mako Stream. The water was then carried through an underground tunnel to the powerhouse at Motukawa, before being discharged into the Mākara Stream, another tributary of the Waitara. The first power from the scheme was supplied in 1927.

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Location

The power scheme is located across a large area to the south-east of Inglewood, stretching from the Manganui River weir at Tariki to the power station at Motukawa.  

Generation Capacity

Motukawa Power Station operates with 3 generators, and can produce 4.7 megawatts of electricity when operating at full capacity.

The annual output of the station is 22 gigawatts of electricity, which is the equivalent of powering around 3000 New Zealand homes per year.

The generation output of the Motukawa scheme is embedded, which means it is fed directly into the local Taranaki lines network.

Scheme Overview

The Motukawa Hydro-electric Power Scheme is fully formed within the Waitara River catchment, drawing water from the Manganui River, a tributary of the Waitara, and the Mako Stream.

Scheme map

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