Genesis Energy restarts Huntly Unit 5

The 400 MW unit experienced an outage on 30 June.

New Zealand-based Genesis Energy has restarted the operations of the 400-megawatt (MW) Unit 5 combined cycle gas turbine at the Huntly Power Station.

The unit, which can power up to 400,000 households, experienced an unexpected outage on 30 June due to the failure of its main circuit breaker, with specialist parts needing to be procured overseas.

The unit came back online on 20 January, four months earlier than expected, Genesis said.

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“It’s pleasing to see the unit once again contributing to New Zealand’s electricity supply, particularly as we look ahead to winter. Unit 5 and Huntly Power Station as a whole provide essential back-up to weather-dependent generation from water, wind and sun, and in times of unplanned plant outages and natural disasters,” said Chief Wholesale Officer Tracey Hickman.

“We look forward to working with others in the sector to ensure the insurance Huntly is able to provide is available longer term,” Hickman added.

Genesis used all three Rankine units to compensate for Unit 5’s outage.