- Joined
- May 28, 2015
- Messages
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History
The New Plymouth Power Station, located at Port Taranaki, is a former thermal power station and was fuelled dually by both gas and oil; it was originally designed to produce power using coal until the Maui gas field was discovered off the coast of Taranaki. The plant was commissioned in 1974, to meet the rising electricity demands across New Zealand, and by the late 1970’s it became one of the largest power plants in the country. By this time the plant housed five identical units, comprising of boilers, provided by ICL of Derby (UK), and steam turbines, from C. A. Parsons of Newcastle (UK). For cooling processes, the plant made use of both seawater and hydrogen. At the start of the millennium, though, discussions surrounding the plant’s future were held, due to rising concerns around its environmental efficiency and the general age of the site and its technology. New Plymouth Power Station was later decommissioned in 2008 after the discovery of asbestos in the thermal insulation, although part of the site was temporarily reinstated in the same year due to poor rainfall, resulting in a shortage of power as lake inflows for other hydro power stations were insufficient to meet the general supply and demand. The New Plymouth Power Station, and others like it, often played a pivotal role in sustaining the supply of power across New Zealand in drier years.
Our Version of Events
We left the city of Hamilton just as it was growing dark, having decided that New Plymouth didn’t look all that far away on the map; it was only a finger’s length after all. Day rapidly transformed into night, but with determination and an incredible amount of caffeine, we pressed on. Despite nearly running out of fuel – risky business in a country that doesn’t know what a service station is – we survived and made it to New Plymouth in the middle of the night. But, that’s when the real adventure began. We had to navigate our way down the sea cliff, towards the beach where we were greeted by a mob of angry seals. Getting past them initially proved effortless, it was only on the way out that a rather large one caused Zort to shit himself and leap, much like an Olympic triple jumper, into my arms. Needless to say, we managed to avoid being eaten, and enjoyed another disappointing night’s sleep in the car. The explore itself, at first, seemed more like a catastrophic disaster zone, with bits of turbine lying outside the plant. Inside the situation was not much better, as pipes and ladders were bent and distorted and layers of think dust coated absolutely everything. Demolition is going smoothly it would appear. The highlight of the explore, though, was the control room. Having stumbled upon this, after feeling defeated in the mutual agreement that access was blocked, was an ecstatic moment; and to make the situation ever better, the controls were switched on! The sound of several machines humming softly in the background felt like music to the ears.
Explored with Nillskill and Zort.
1: New Plymouth Power Station (from the clifftop)
2: Oil Burning Plant Internal Combustion Ltd.
3: Mangled pipes and valves
4: Into the depths of pipes and workings
5: Over the wall
6: Climbable tanks
7: 'Demolition in progress' side
8: Crumpled ladder
9: Very large ropes
10: Staircase leading to control rooms (eventually)
11: Walkway/observation platform
12: The carnage
13: The whole former turbine room
14: Empty spaces
15: Rusting barrel
16: The control room
17: One of the main control desks
18: Controls left on
19: Working control panels
20: Computer space
21: Unit 2
22: Smaller control desk
23: Additional controls
24: Machine with paper behind protective glass
25: Smaller machines with paper
26: Emergency radio
27: Some negative vibes
28: Many more switches
29: Evacuation alarm
30: Small monitor (one of several around the room)
The New Plymouth Power Station, located at Port Taranaki, is a former thermal power station and was fuelled dually by both gas and oil; it was originally designed to produce power using coal until the Maui gas field was discovered off the coast of Taranaki. The plant was commissioned in 1974, to meet the rising electricity demands across New Zealand, and by the late 1970’s it became one of the largest power plants in the country. By this time the plant housed five identical units, comprising of boilers, provided by ICL of Derby (UK), and steam turbines, from C. A. Parsons of Newcastle (UK). For cooling processes, the plant made use of both seawater and hydrogen. At the start of the millennium, though, discussions surrounding the plant’s future were held, due to rising concerns around its environmental efficiency and the general age of the site and its technology. New Plymouth Power Station was later decommissioned in 2008 after the discovery of asbestos in the thermal insulation, although part of the site was temporarily reinstated in the same year due to poor rainfall, resulting in a shortage of power as lake inflows for other hydro power stations were insufficient to meet the general supply and demand. The New Plymouth Power Station, and others like it, often played a pivotal role in sustaining the supply of power across New Zealand in drier years.
Our Version of Events
We left the city of Hamilton just as it was growing dark, having decided that New Plymouth didn’t look all that far away on the map; it was only a finger’s length after all. Day rapidly transformed into night, but with determination and an incredible amount of caffeine, we pressed on. Despite nearly running out of fuel – risky business in a country that doesn’t know what a service station is – we survived and made it to New Plymouth in the middle of the night. But, that’s when the real adventure began. We had to navigate our way down the sea cliff, towards the beach where we were greeted by a mob of angry seals. Getting past them initially proved effortless, it was only on the way out that a rather large one caused Zort to shit himself and leap, much like an Olympic triple jumper, into my arms. Needless to say, we managed to avoid being eaten, and enjoyed another disappointing night’s sleep in the car. The explore itself, at first, seemed more like a catastrophic disaster zone, with bits of turbine lying outside the plant. Inside the situation was not much better, as pipes and ladders were bent and distorted and layers of think dust coated absolutely everything. Demolition is going smoothly it would appear. The highlight of the explore, though, was the control room. Having stumbled upon this, after feeling defeated in the mutual agreement that access was blocked, was an ecstatic moment; and to make the situation ever better, the controls were switched on! The sound of several machines humming softly in the background felt like music to the ears.
Explored with Nillskill and Zort.
1: New Plymouth Power Station (from the clifftop)
2: Oil Burning Plant Internal Combustion Ltd.
3: Mangled pipes and valves
4: Into the depths of pipes and workings
5: Over the wall
6: Climbable tanks
7: 'Demolition in progress' side
8: Crumpled ladder
9: Very large ropes
10: Staircase leading to control rooms (eventually)
11: Walkway/observation platform
12: The carnage
13: The whole former turbine room
14: Empty spaces
15: Rusting barrel
16: The control room
17: One of the main control desks
18: Controls left on
19: Working control panels
20: Computer space
21: Unit 2
22: Smaller control desk
23: Additional controls
24: Machine with paper behind protective glass
25: Smaller machines with paper
26: Emergency radio
27: Some negative vibes
28: Many more switches
29: Evacuation alarm
30: Small monitor (one of several around the room)
