Gas power plant in Taranaki, New Zealand. Approximate location -39.330476, 174.319736.
GasTaranakiNew ZealandCCGT · HRSG
Stratford power station is a 587 MW gas power station in Taranaki, New Zealand. It is operated by Contact Energy Ltd [100%]. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 661k homes (estimated). It ranks #3 of 50 New Zealand power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 1998, it is around 28 years old — long-established. In context, gas supplies about 8.9% of New Zealand's electricity; the national grid averages 93 gCO₂/kWh (88.5% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id GOGPT_stratford_newzea.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM · 2026 · L100000406866; fuel: GEM GOGPT
At 587 MW, Stratford power station is well above the median gas plant in New Zealand (112 MW). Technically it is described as CCGT; combined-cycle with a heat-recovery steam generator (HRSG). Gas plants burn natural gas either in open-cycle turbines for fast peaking, or in combined-cycle units that recover exhaust heat in an HRSG to reach roughly 55–62% efficiency — the cleanest-burning fossil option.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Contact Energy Ltd [100%].
This gas plant burns natural gas in a turbine — often in a combined-cycle setup — to generate electricity. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 39.3°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Climate zone & typical temperatures: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid).
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a corrosive environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C4 — High), with humidity / wetness the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest gas power plant of 10 in New Zealand by capacity.
New Zealand has 10 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 2,290 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -39.330476, 174.319736 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Stratford power station is a 587 MW gas power plant in Taranaki, New Zealand, commissioned in 1998.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 661,129 homes (estimated).
Stratford power station is operated by Contact Energy Ltd [100%].
