Culham Engineering Piping Ngawha

Ngāwhā Geothermal Power Station

Client: Top Energy

Culham lead contractor for multi-million dollar power station expansion.

The $182 million expansion of Top Energy’s Ngawha Geothermal Power Station, is one of the largest construction projects undertaken in the Far North and will improve the security and reliability of the power supply for the whole Northland region.

The project includes installation of the new power station, geothermal pipeline and electricity transmission system equipment which, once complete, will more than double generation capacity to 57 Megawatts.

As lead contractor, Culham Engineering designed and built the $20m fluid conveyance system which is a 6km steel pipeline transporting steam and water across the approximately 20 sqkm geothermal field from the wellhead to the power station in our fabrication workshops.

This project involved the management of  multi discipline trades ranging from design, civil construction, electrical & instrumentation, site coating, and insulation and cladding onsite and workshop welding and fabrication, to painting, galvanising and transportation.

The 6km of 500mm, 600mm and 650mm diameter pipeline runs from the production wellheads to the power stations and from the power stations to hot reinjection wells across the undulating country. Culhams manufactured and shipped the large diameter pipes, which were stockpiled onsite ahead of installation.

Culham Engineering managed the complete build on site. Utilising our own Culham resources and equipment from Whangarei, we completed all the transport and craneage, welding, inspection, mechanical and piping installation, and managed a number of selected contractors to complete the civil construction, electrical & instrumentation, site coating, insulation and cladding.

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