Meridian Energy

Happy birthday to this grand old power station! 🎂 This weekend marks 90 years since Waitaki Power Station started providing power to New Zealand. Over half a million cubic metres of material was excavated to build it - almost entirely by pick and shovel! It's a concrete arch #dam with no spillway, designed to allow water to flow over the top if it floods. Waitaki Power Station started generating #electricity with two 15-megawatt generators - enough to meet almost half of the South Island's needs at that time. These days, it has seven 15-megawatt generating units and a total generation output of up to 105 megawatts. That's enough to power roughly 50,000 Kiwi homes. Waitaki Power Station has been providing Aotearoa with clean, #renewable electricity for almost a century now - here's to another 90 years! #CleanEnergy #Sustainability #HydroElectricity #HydroDam #Engineering

We’ve got some major maintenance happening at Manapōuri hydro power station. 🛠️ And because a lot of that work’s taking place a couple of hundred metres underground, it can make things a little tricky! Thankfully, our team’s up to the job. We'll let Brett Horwell explain more, and keep you up to date as this work progresses. It’s part of our ongoing efforts to keep our assets operating smoothly and make sure Aotearoa New Zealand is prepared for winter 2024. #HydroElectric #HydroElectricity #RenewableEnergy #CleanEnergy #Maintenance #Engineering #ElectricityGeneration #Electricity

There’s no place like home ❤️   When we started our search for a new head office, we knew we needed a building that met earthquake standards, was right for our people and culture, and reflected our commitment to sustainability.   What we've ended up with, is incredible. It is all those things and more. This space in Wellington’s historic Old Bank Arcade Building blends heritage and sustainability, and has been done with the Living Building Challenge in mind – the world’s most advanced sustainability accreditation.   The team at Unispace has done an incredible job bringing our vision to life. They've delivered a modern, sustainable, and welcoming workspace that builds on the grand history of one on Wellington's most iconic buildings. #Sustainability #Architecture #Design #InteriorDesign #Construction #OfficeFitout #Heritage  

It’s New Zealand’s biggest hydro power station, and it’s mostly hidden 200m underground! 😮 Manapōuri Hydro Station is located on the edge of Lake Manapōuri’s West Arm in Fiordland National Park, which has UNESCO World Heritage status as part of Te Wāhipounamu. Starting in 1964, the project took 1,800 workers eight years to complete in extremely harsh conditions. It was designed to produce huge amounts of electricity. At full noise it can produce up to 800 megawatts - that's enough to power roughly 620,000 homes. As Brett Horwell explains, it's an amazing feat of engineering, and we're very proud of this incredible part of Kiwi history. #CleanEnergy #HydroElectricity #HydroElectric #Sustainability #ClimateChange #HydroPower #RenewableElectricity

For the first time, we’re measuring how our work impacts the environment, society and stakeholders, AND the potential financial cost of those impacts. 👍 It’s called double materiality, and we're among a small number of early adopters in Aotearoa New Zealand. It's recognised as global best practice, so it was a step that was important for us to take, but it also required some experimentation! Read more: https://bit.ly/4h863OE This story first featured in Tackling Zero, our quarterly e-newsletter for people working or interested in sustainability. Each issue offers Meridian’s insights into topical sustainability issues. To register: https://bit.ly/4cLFUDr #DoubleMateriality #Sustainability #Environment #CleanEnergy #SustainableEnergy

How can construction projects improve sustainability outcomes - for communities, environment and the economy? 👷♂️ We've been working on this stuff for a while and very keen to share what we've learned. If you missed our recent webinar - we've got you covered! Watch our Tackling Zero webinar here: https://lnkd.in/gRS_ip9W #Construction #ClimateChange #SustainableConstruction #Leadership

“The moment you put your foot on that accelerator, it’s a whole new experience!” 🤯 Alongside our friends at Drive Electric New Zealand, we're spreading the word about the exciting world of EVs – they’re cleaner and cheaper to run, and so much fun to drive! We're currently building the Zero network of chargers across Aotearoa New Zealand. And if you've already made the switch, we also offer EV charging solutions for homes and businesses. You can find more info here: https://lnkd.in/dhCSBZmG #EV #ElectricCar #ElectricVehicle #ClimateChange #Sustainability EECA (Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority) EV FireSafe

From remote-controlled wind turbines to... wait for it... bird lasers! 🔫   We’re always trying to be smarter about how we work, because while maintaining our generation assets is essential, that’s not to say we can’t make improvements. By using new technology and crunching lots of data, our clever team is finding ways of doing this work faster and more efficiently.   Every day we're not parking our machines for maintenance is another day they can be generating more megawatts for New Zealand! We'll let Yanosh Irani and Emily Adams explain...

New Zealand’s largest hydro storage lake – Lake Pūkaki - is above its 91-year average for the first time since May! 📈 Lake Pūkaki had been below average for more than 150 days, and at historically low levels as recently as mid-August, before weeks of heavy rain and snowfall changed the outlook. Over the last week Pūkaki rose 715mm to just over 525m above sea level - 102% of average for this time of year. “September felt wet, and it was. The Waitaki catchment, which feeds Lake Pūkaki and the Waitaki Hydro Scheme, had its fourth wettest September on record,” says Meridian's GM Wholesale, Chris Ewers. "We’ve been managing our hydro lakes extremely carefully for months now, but there’s nothing like a helping hand from Mother Nature." But it’s not just water in the lakes that’s welcome. In the mountains above the Waitaki catchment, snow storage is now sitting at 117% of average. The historical average level of Lake Pūkaki changes over the course of the year, and spring is generally when levels are at their lowest due to high demand for electricity and less rainfall throughout winter. Read the full media release: https://bit.ly/4eUJL17 #Hydroelectricity #HydroLake #Sustainability #Electricity #HydroStorage #ElectricityGeneration #CleanEnergy

"I'm from Hawke's Bay - born and bred in Napier. My father was born just down the road from here." For James Mear, a job at Harapaki Wind farm has taken him right back to his family roots! As an engineer at Harapaki, James helps make sure that this amazing new asset is running well and delivering for the country. We're proud to be a part of local communities, and of the amazing people we have working at our assets all over Aotearoa New Zealand. #WindFarm #WindFarms #WindTurbine #Construction #CleanEnergy #SustainableEnergy #Sustainability Siemens Gamesa