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Mighty River Power Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation and electricity retailing company. It was formed from the breakup of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) in 1999 as a result one of the reforms of the New Zealand Electricity Market and corporatised to become a state-owned enterprise with its own board of directors and Ministerial shareholders. A state-owned enterprise from its founding, it was partially privatised by the Fifth National Government in May 2013, with the government retaining a 51.78 percent shareholding and the remaining 48.22 percent listed on the stock market. The company owns and operates the hydroelectric generating stations on the Waikato River as well as geothermal plants in the Taupo area, the gas fired (combined cycle) Southdown plant in south Auckland and the largely unused plant (Marsden A and Marsden B) at Marsden Point near Whangarei. In 2013, Mighty River Power generated 15% of the country's electricity and had a market share of 19%.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 publisher=MBIE )〕 According to its own website, the company supplies 22% of New Zealand peak energy demand, with about 80% of this coming from hydro-power.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 title=Mighty River Power: About Us: Generation )〕 ==History== Mighty River Power was established on 1 April 1999, when the 1998 reform of the electricity sector took effect. The Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) was broken up into three state-owned generating companies - Mighty River Power, Genesis Energy and Meridian Energy. Mighty River Power took over the ownership and operation of the eight hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest, and also inherited the assets of two largely decommissioned oil-fired power stations at Marsden Point, near Whangarei. In addition, the 1998 reforms forced the separation between lines (transmission and distribution) and supply (generation and retailing). On 1 April 1999, Mercury Energy, then the major lines and supply company for Auckland, New Zealand's largest city, was split between lines and supply. Mighty River Power inherited Mercury Energy's retail base and its share in the Southdown Power Station (in conjunction with the Natural Gas Corporation). Mercury Energy then became the name of Mighty River's retail business, and the sub-transmission and distribution business of Mercury Energy was renamed Vector. In 2000, Mighty River purchased into the Rotokawa geothermal power station, to operate and maintain the station, and own the geothermal turbines in a joint venture with the Tauhara North No.2 Trust. Also that year, Mighty River Power commissioned the Mokai geothermal power station in a joint venture with the Tuaropaki Trust. One aspect that sets Mighty River Power apart from other geothermal generators is that it works in partnership with Māori landowners (the tāngata whenua) to benefit both Mighty River power and the tāngata whenua.(needed ) In September 2002, Mighty River gained 100 percent ownership of the Southdown power station. In 2004, Mighty River announce plans to refurbish the Marsden B plant to fire it on coal to increase supply security north of Auckland. Marsden B had been mothballed since it was completed in 1978 due to rising oil prices following the 1973 oil crisis and there being cheaper alternatives available. Greenpeace staged a nine-day occupation of the site in 2005, and after the Northland Regional Council granted consent, appealed to both the Environment Court and High Court, eventually overturning the consent. Mighty River appealed the High Court decision to the Court of Appeal, but in March 2007 dropped the proposal. In 2008, Mighty River increased its generating capacity by opening the 100 MW Kawerau geothermal power station, increasing supply security to the eastern Bay of Plenty, a large timber processing area. In 2010, it opened the 140 MW Nga Awa Purua geothermal station near Taupo, complete with the largest single-shaft geothermal turbine in the world. The commissioning of Nga Awa Purua increased Mighty River's geothermal capacity to 385 MW, becoming the nation's largest geothermal electricity generator with 52.7 percent of all installed geothermal capacity. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Mighty River Power」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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