Waihi Hydro
Waihi Hydro
The 5MWe Waihi hydro scheme was completed by the Wairoa Power Board in 1986 and is located at Lake Ruapapa on the Waihi River, 26km north west of Wairoa in the Hawke’s Bay Region.
The plant catchment stretches up to the Panekiri range in the Te Urawera National Park and the dam holds approximately 2million cubic metres of water.
The dam is an earth fill construction with 15m high concrete buttresses which channel the water through the intakes and penstocks to the powerhouse below the dam on the Waiau River.
The powerhouse contains two 2.5MWe turbines and supplies electricity into the local Wairoa network, providing sustainable, renewable energy for 1,600 homes.