The Meremere coal fired power station was the first in the country (the second is located in Huntly, 30km up river to the south east). The location, 64km southeast of Auckland, was chosen due to the proximity to the Waikato river, and the Maramarua coalfield to the east. Like the Huntly power station, it used Waikato river water for the cooling portion of the power cycle, negating the need for large cooling towers.
Two thirds of the 800,000 ton annual coal requirement was obtained from the nearby coalfield and transported to the power station via dual aerial monocable/bucket systems that could deliver up to 300 tons of coal per hour to the station.
Construction on the plant began in 1956 and was completed in 1958 with six power generators commissioned. A seventh generator was installed in 1967. In 1982 the station underwent a $20 million refurbishment to reduce fly ash caused by the soft Waikato coal. The plant continued to operate, producing base load electricity to the NZ grid, until 1991 when the power station was finally decommissioned.
The building has now been gutted of all power generation equipment including all of the boilers, turbines and chimneys.
Cache is a camouflaged 500mL screw top. Please ensure the screw top is tightly closed and cover well when rehiding. Happy geocaching!
psychrn
