Te Mihi geothermal power station
Te Mihi geothermal power station was granted consent in September 2009. Find out about the proposal, the submission process and the final decision report.
Contact Energy Limited was granted consent in September 2008 to build a new geothermal power station in the Wairakei-Tauhara Geothermal Field in an area known as 'Te Mihi' near Taupo. The power station involves a number of associated activities including a new transmission line, a new switchyard, air discharges and discharges to land and groundwater.
Consent to build the power station and for the associated activities is subject to terms and conditions.
These terms and conditions are covered in the Full Final Decision Report [PDF 8.2 MB] on our website.
The Minister for the Environment called in Contact’s proposal for the power station in February 2008 and appointed an independent Board of Inquiry to consider submissions on Contact Energy’s proposal, to hold public hearings and to make a final decision.
The Board’s Chair was Judge Gordon Whiting, an Environment Judge. The other Board members were Dr Patrick Browne, Denis Nugent and Glenice Paine.
The Board of Inquiry hearing was held in Taupo on 21 July 2008 and 28 to 30 July 2008. The Board then released its draft decision for comment on 5 August 2008 and allowed 20 working days for comment. The final report released by the board was dated 3 September.