Todd Energy receives carbon credits for generating electricity for the national grid. In a new cogeneration project officially opening today at Todd Energy's McKee plant near Tikorangi in North Taranaki, what would otherwise be waste gas is being used to generate enough electricity and hot water to power 2000 houses annually. In a separate project the plant will be generating enough electricity to power a further 9000 homes by December 2008. Todd Energy's managing director, Richard Tweedie said: "With the power crisis threatening the stability of New Zealand's energy supply, this project is an excellent example of how cogeneration technology maximises plant efficiency, using waste gas to deliver electricity to the national grid and hot water for use at the plant".

"This project also illustrates the type of thermal generation that is clearly in the national interest and should be encouraged by Government policy, but unfortunately this is not the case". "Todd Energy is always looking for opportunities to develop cogeneration projects but is hesitant to do so given the Government's intentions to ban thermal generation in excess of 10MW for 10 years", stated Mr. Tweedie. The cogeneration units are driven by internal combustion engines designed specifically to run on waste gas, which is an unavoidable by-product of processing natural gas to pipeline specification sales quality. This gas is sourced from a waste stream that was previously flared into the atmosphere. The units will generate 2 MW of electricity which is exported to the local grid. In a separate project, the further three units that will be operational in December will generate an additional 9 MW of electricity using gas sourced from the Mangahewa Field.

Exhaust heat from the initial two generation units will also be recovered to pre-heat water for the plant's hot water system - a vital component in processing McKee crude due to the oil's waxy nature. The hot water produced is equivalent to providing energy to another 2000 households annually. Todd Energy has made significant investments in renewable generation developments and is the largest generator of electricity in New Zealand from efficient gas-fired co-generation facilities, including Whareroa, Edgecumbe, Kapuni and Southern Landfill in Wellington, where landfill gas is used to generate electricity. The 100% New Zealand owned energy producer uses cogeneration technology to maximise energy efficiency at commercial and industrial sites which ultimately helps reduce New Zealand's greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Tweedie commented: "We are very pleased that this project has received carbon credits (Carbon Emission Reduction Units) from the Government in recognition of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions achieved". To design a viable, long term solution to managing waste gas produced at the McKee Plant, the project had involved the generation expertise of Todd Energy subsidiary Bay of Plenty Energy teamed up with the specialist engineering knowledge of production team based at the Todd Energy offices in New Plymouth.