Many of the reservoirs and dams in New Zealand have been developed principally to produce hydroelectricity. The main river systems comprising a series of dams and powerhouses are situated on the following rivers:
- The Waikato River
- The Waitaki River
- The Clutha River
Table of contents |
2 The Waitaki 3 Standalone schemes |
The Waikato
The hydro stations, starting from Lake Taupo, are:
- Aratiatia (84 MW) (331 GWh)
- Ohakuri (112 MW) (400 GWh)
- Atiamuri (84 MW) (305 GWh)
- Whakamaru (100 MW) (486 GWh)
- Maraetai (360 MW) (855 GWh)
- Waipapa (51 MW) (330 GWh)
- Arapuni (171 MW) (805 GWh)
- Karapiro (90 MW) (490 GWh)
The Waitaki
The river is developed in two areas - The upper Waitaki and the mid Waitaki. There are two dams on the upper Waitaki, the Pukaki high dam and the Ruataniwha dam. In the upper Waitaki, water is passed from storage lakes through canals to each power station.The stations are:
- Tekapo A (25 MW) (160 GWh)
- Tekapo B (160 MW) (800 GWH)
- Ohau A (264 MW) (1150 GWh)
- Ohau B (212 MW) (970 GWh)
- Ohau C (212 MW) (970 GWh)
- Benmore (540 MW) (2,200 GWh)
- Aviemore (220 MW) (900 GWh)
- Waitaki (105 MW) (500 GWh)
Standalone schemes
- Manapouri (700 MW) (4,400 GWh)