Historic Mow Geothermal Development Images

Abstract

Geothermal development began in New Zealand in the 1950s. It was primarily done by the Government Departments of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR), the Ministry of Works (MoW) and the New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED). As Wairakei was the first wet steamfield in the world to be developed, innovative techniques had to be invented to separate the steam from the two-phase fluid and to handle the two-phase fluid. Geothermal well drilling was also developed, adapting oilfield practices for the quite different requirements of geothermal reservoirs. Photographs and some films record this early development and the innovations and some of the failures. The photograph originals are now held by GNS, MB Century and Contact Energy. The NZGA intends to digitise and so preserve the images and to make them more widely available. Some of the images are presented here, with a background on the MoW archive.