Gas power plant in Waikato, New Zealand. Approximate location -37.75, 175.2167.
GasWaikatoNew Zealand
Te Rapa is a 44 MW gas power plant in Waikato, New Zealand. It is operated by Contact Energy. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 49,556 homes (estimated). It ranks #33 of 43 New Zealand power plants by installed capacity. 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 WRI1000336.
This facility's annual emissions are roughly equivalent to:
Estimated, not measured: from installed capacity at a typical 45% load factor × a typical gas emission factor (~400 g CO₂/kWh, IPCC AR5 / US EIA). Actual emissions depend on plant efficiency and running hours.Equivalencies via US EPA Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Contact Energy. All plants by this company →
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 37.8°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 40% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 34/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
A gas turbine here also runs ~0% below its ISO (15°C) rating at this annual mean (typical CCGT curve, estimate).
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
The #3 largest gas power plant of 3 in New Zealand by capacity.
New Zealand has 3 gas power plants in this dataset, together about 507 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -37.75, 175.2167 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
