Mercury NZ Limited is a New Zealandelectricity generation and multi-product utility retailer of electricity, gas, broadband and mobile telephone services. All the company's electricity generation is renewable. Mercury has a pre-paid electricity product sub-brand GLOBUG. Mercury Energy is also the largest electricity retailer in New Zealand.
Mercury generates most of its energy from nine hydro stations on the Waikato River and five geothermal plants in the central north island as well as a number of wind farms.[2][3]As of June 2021[update], Mercury had generated 3,611GWh of electricity through hydro generation and 2,594GWh through geothermal generation.[4]
Mercury also service industrial and wholesale market customers offering electricity and natural gas products. Since 2022 it has also offered internet fibre broadband services as a bundle for its residential electricity customers.[5] Mercury has offices in Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington and Oamaru.
History
In the 1980s, the New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED) (a government department) controlled and operated almost all New Zealand electricity generation and operated the electricity transmission grid. The first phase of deregulation saw the New Zealand Government corporatisze the NZED and form the state-owned enterprise Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ).
In 1998, law changes obligated AEPB to sell the electricity retailing and generation part of the business.
On 1 April 1999, ECNZ was split into three – Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power. Mercury's electricity retailing division was sold to Mighty River Power, who continued the trading name Mercury Energy. The electricity distribution business Mercury Energy Limited changed its name to Vector Limited and continued the distribution and transmission operation.
Mighty River Power took over the ownership and operation of the nine hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest river, and inherited assets of two largely decommissioned oil-fired power stations at Marsden Point, near Whangārei and its share in the Southdown Power Station (in conjunction with the Natural Gas Corporation).
In 2000, Mighty River Power acquired the Rotokawa geothermal power station, to operate and maintain the station, and own the geothermal turbines in a joint venture with the Tauhara North No.2 Trust. Also, that year, Mighty River Power commissioned the Mōkai geothermal power station geothermal power station in a joint venture with the Tuaropaki Trust.
In September 2002, Mighty River Power gained 100 percent ownership of the Southdown power station.
In 2004, Mighty River Power announced plans to refurbish the Marsden B plant to fire it on coal to increase supply security north of Auckland. Marsden B had been mothballed since it was completed in 1978 due to rising oil prices following the 1973 oil crisis and there being cheaper alternatives available. Greenpeace staged a nine-day occupation of the site in 2005, and after the Northland Regional Council granted consent, appealed to both the Environment Court and High Court, eventually overturning the consent. Mighty River Power appealed the High Court decision to the Court of Appeal, but in March 2007 dropped the proposal.
In 2008, Mighty River Power increased its generating capacity by opening the 100 MW Kawerau geothermal power station, increasing supply security to the eastern Bay of Plenty, a large timber processing area. In 2010, it opened the 140 MW Nga Awa Purua geothermal station near Taupō with the largest single-shaft geothermal turbine in the world. The commissioning of Nga Awa Purua increased Mighty River's geothermal capacity to 385 MW making it the nation's largest geothermal electricity generator with 52.7 percent of all installed geothermal capacity.
In 2009, Mighty River Power sold the Marsden B plant for $20 million to an Indian company, United Telecom.[6] Resource consents for dismantling the plant were granted in June 2011, and the 20,000 tonnes of plant and equipment was dismantled later in 2011.
In Dec 2011, the National Government announced plans to reduce its shareholding in the four state-owned energy companies, Contact Energy, Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy and Mighty River Power (Mercury) from 100 percent to 51 percent and to sell off the remaining 49 percent as part of its controversial "mixed-ownership model" plan. Mighty River Power was to be the first company to be partially sold in September 2012, pursuant to legislative changes and market conditions.[7] However, threatened legal action and unfavourable market conditions saw the Government delay any sale until March 2013 at the earliest.[8]
On 5 March 2012, the Government began taking registrations of interest from the public in Mighty River Power shares.[9] More than 35,000 people tried to register in the first six hours causing the registration website to crash for much of the day.[10] By midnight, more than 90,000 people had registered.[11]
In April 2013, State Owned Enterprises Minister Tony Ryall, in anticipation of the sale, said director fees would be increasing from $49,000 a year to $85,000, and the chair's fees from $98,000 to $150,000, despite still being majority-owned by taxpayers.
On 2 April 2013, The Financial Markets Authority approved the sale of Mighty River Power with the IPO (Initial Public Offering) on 15 April. However, the IPO was temporarily suspended on 22 April while a supplementary disclosure was issued, after the Labour and Green parties in opposition announced plans to reform the electricity market if elected to government at the 2014 election. At the close of the IPO on 5 May, there were 113,000 shareholders, and on 8 May the opening share price was set at $2.50, raising $1.7 billion. The Government was slightly disappointed, blaming the Labour-Green policy for putting off many more potential shareholders, with the Finance Minister indicating before the policy was announced that the price would be in the $2.70 to $2.80 range[12] The government retained 51.78 percent of the shareholding, with another 1.02 percent owned by other Crown interests (mainly the New Zealand Superannuation Fund).[13]
By September, shares had slumped to $2.16, well below the float price[14] and in October the company announced it would be buying back up to $50 million in shares.[15]
Logo of the former Mercury Energy
In December 2015, the gas fired Southdown Power Station, a 170 MW combined cycle power station in south Auckland was closed.
On 29 July 2016, after merging its retail and generation businesses the company changed its name to Mercury NZ Limited.[16] The company also launched a new brand logo, moving from the Roman god Mercury, to a bee. Market research showed New Zealand had a stronger connection to the bee as a symbol.[17]
In August 2021, Mercury acquired five operating wind farms and several wind farm development options from Tilt Renewables.[18] At the same time, the first power from the newly built wind farm at Turitea was generated[19] – adding to the existing portfolio of nine hydro stations[20] on the Waikato River and five geothermal plants[21] located in the central North Island.
In August 2021, Mercury acquired five operating wind farms and several wind farm development options.[22] At the same time, the first power from the newly built wind farm at Turitea was generated.[23]
In May 2022, Mercury acquired the retail business of Trustpower,[24] including the retail customer base and Trustpower brand. The generation business of Trustpower changed its name to Manawa Energy Limited.
In June 2023, Mercury brought the two brands Mercury and Trustpower together under singular brand of Mercury. [25]
Machine 1 - May 1947; Machine 2 - Sept 1947; Machine3 - May 1948
Refurbishment project underway (expected completion 2025) once fully refurbished capacity will increase to 112.5MW with expected annual average generation of 537GW
The New Zealand electricity market (NZEM) is a decentralised electricity market regulated by the Electricity Industry Participation Code administered by the Electricity Authority (EA). The authority was established in November 2010 to replace the Electricity Commission.
Genesis Energy Limited, formerly Genesis Power Limited is a New Zealand publicly listed electricity generation and electricity, natural gas and LPG retailing company. It was formed as part of the 1998–99 reform of the New Zealand electricity sector, taking its generation capacity from the breakup of the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ) and taking retail customers from three local power boards in the Lower North Island. The New Zealand Government owns a 51% share of the company.
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is the fourth largest retailer, with 14 percent of market share in terms of customers as of December 2015.
Manawa Energy limited is a New Zealand electricity generation company that offers bespoke electricity products to commercial and industrial customers across New Zealand. Manawa energy currently operate 26 power schemes from the Bay of Plenty in the north, to Otago in the south.
Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, a wholesaler of natural gas, and a retailer of electricity, natural gas, broadband and LPG.
The Kawerau Power Station is a 100-megawatt geothermal power plant located just outside the town of Kawerau in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand. The power station is situated within the Kawerau geothermal field, which is part of the Taupo Volcanic Zone. Completed in July 2008 by Mighty River Power at a cost of NZ$300 million, the plant's capacity proved greater than expected. The station is the largest single-generator geothermal plant in New Zealand.
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of December 2020, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
The electricity sector in New Zealand uses mainly renewable energy, such as hydropower, geothermal power and increasingly wind energy. As of 2019, 82% of electricity is generated from renewable sources, making New Zealand one of the countries with the lowest carbon dioxide emissions from electricity generation. Electricity demand grew by an average of 2.1% per year from 1974 to 2010 but decreased by 1.2% from 2010 to 2013.
The Ōtāhuhu power station was a power station site located in Ōtara, Auckland, New Zealand. Two plants operated on the site: Ōtāhuhu A and Ōtāhuhu B. A proposed third station, Ōtāhuhu C, was never built. The stations were owned by Contact Energy.
Turitea Wind Farm is a 222-megawatt wind farm near Turitea, Palmerston North, New Zealand. The farm is owned and operated by Mercury Energy.
The Awhitu Wind Farm is a renewable energy project in New Zealand initially planned by Tilt Renewables. The development is proposed to be located on the Awhitu Peninsula near Waiuku on the west coast south of Auckland. As of 2016 the project was being privately pursued.
The Poihipi Power Station is a geothermal power station owned and operated by Contact Energy. It is located on Poihipi Road near Taupō in New Zealand.
Southdown Power Station was a natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine cogeneration power station in Southdown, a suburb in southern Auckland, New Zealand. When operational, it was New Zealand's northernmost power station with a capacity exceeding 50 MW.
Whakamaru Power Station is a hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River, in the North Island of New Zealand. It is the fourth hydroelectric power station on the Waikato River.
Ngatamariki is a geothermal power station commissioned in 2013 and operated by Mercury Energy. It is located approximately 17 km north east of Taupō and was constructed well under the budget of $475 million.
Solar power in New Zealand is increasing in capacity, despite no government subsidies or interventions being available. As at the end of December 2023, New Zealand has 365 MW of grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) solar power installed, of which 105 MW (29%) was installed that year. In the 12 months to September 2023, 333 gigawatt-hours of electricity was estimated to have been generated by grid-connected solar, 0.77% of all electricity generated in the country.
The Mokai Power Station is a geothermal power station owned by the Tuaropaki Power Company and operated by Mercury NZ Limited. It is located approximately 30 km north west of Taupō in New Zealand. The station uses a binary cycle manufactured by Ormat Industries.
The Waipipi Wind Farm is a wind powered electricity generation project in New Zealand owned and operated by Mercury NZ Ltd. This site is located between Patea and Waverley in South Taranaki. The wind farm consists of 31 wind turbines over 980 hectares, generating up to 133 MW at a cost of approximately $277 million. The 4.3 MW machines are the largest wind turbines installed in New Zealand.
Tilt Renewables Pty Ltd is an Australian electricity generation company. It was previously dual listed on the New Zealand stock exchange and Australian stock exchange. As of 2022, the Powering Australian Renewables has merged with Tilt Renewables following a complex acquisition and merger, making it the largest private developer and generator of renewable electricity in Australia.
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NZ$2,188M (2022) [1] 
