New Zealand Power plant officials will not reopen plant despite electrical supply shortage

New Zealand – Even with the possible threat of losing electrical power for many residents in a county, a temporarily shut down power plant will not reopen.

Officials discovered asbestos in pipe lagging at the New Plymouth power plant last year and the plant had to be shut down. The company that runs it, Contact Energy, said it had no plans to reopen the plant until the abatement process was completed fully and properly. A spokesperson for the New Plymouth plant announced that the plant was not in safe, workable conditions and would not be ready to operate by winter.

New Zealand is currently facing the possibility of power shortages. Along with the New Plymouth plant issue, many other factors are responsible for the lack of power supply – the Stratford power plant is also closed for maintenance work, the Cook Strait cable now only has one working cable, and lake levels are lower than usual at South Island.

Maintenance work at the Stratford plant has been reported as going well and operation is expected to resume by the end of March.

The asbestos removal efforts at the New Plymouth plant are expected to last for most of this year. The future of the plant once the clean up is done is still undecided.

A spokesperson for Energy Minister David Parker told reporters the minister understands and has accepted that the New Plymouth plant will not reopen anytime soon. Mr. Parker is currently looking into a contingency plan.

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