Hanmer Springs Pools granted mining permit to convert methane gas to electricity

Tuesday, 23 October 2018

Hanmer Springs' thermal pools will soon be powered partly by waste methane as the company aims to become more eco-friendly.

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa has been working on converting methane to electricity for more than a decade and has now been granted a petroleum mining permit.

Enjoy the aqua therapy pool at Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa with less enviro-guilt.

It will use gas produced through an old bore that was discovered during a redevelopment of the North Canterbury complex in 2006. Further methane is produced as a byproduct of pumping thermal water from a deep bore to the pools themselves. Until now, the methane has either been released into the atmosphere or burnt off.

The complex's new 65-kilowatt Capstone micro turbine generator is expected to convert 101,000 cubic metres of methane into 305,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each year – the equivalent of powering about 43 Kiwi homes every year.

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa general manager Graeme Abbot says the complex is working on more ways to reduce its environmental impact.

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa operations manager Neil Wilson, Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage, and Hurunui mayor Winton Dalley unveil the generator that will convert methane into power.

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Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa general manager Graeme Abbot standing by the bore hold that supplies the pools.

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General manager Graeme Abbot said the process had not been simple, but they had been able to solve the problems by working with industry experts, Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) and New Zealand Petroleum & Minerals.

'It's allowed us to come up with an innovative solution which meets our unique circumstances.'

EECA technology and innovation manager Dinesh Chand said the Hanmer Springs team's emissions-reducing technology was a first for New Zealand and could pave the way for others to follow suit.

'[The] generator is proving a worthwhile and reliable investment and the situation is highly replicable for other businesses, which is a big factor for EECA's technology demonstration funding.

'We look for opportunities to demonstrate energy efficient equipment and systems that might be adopted more widely and this is a great solution for any business where biogas is being flared or lost to the atmosphere.'

Hanmer Springs Thermal Pools and Spa has invested more than $300,000 in the project and the 305,000 kilowatt hours of electricity produced will be used in-house, providing about 14.5 per cent of the complex's annual electricity needs, saving at least $35,000 each year.

'The next part we are tackling is how to recover and reutilise the heat generated from the turbine, which we could then reuse within the complex to further reduce our environmental footprint,' Abbot said.

The complex's petroleum mining permit expires in 2056.