Battle for milk
OPINION: Fonterra may be on the verge of selling its consumer business in New Zealand, but the co-operative is not keen on giving any ground to its competitors in the country.
The Te Rapa plant, operating since 1999, is a gas-fuelled co-generation plant, providing steam and electricity to Fonterra's Te Rapa dairy factory, and directing surplus electricity back to the grid.
Contact says its contract to supply Fonterra with electricity expires in June 2023. Fonterra will acquire the plant's auxiliary boiler and will continue to use these assets for its dairy operations beyond June next year, but the gas turbine used to generate electricity at Te Rapa will be retired.
Contact says the decision to close the plant will reduce its long-term scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions by 20% per annum.
Contact chief executive Mike Fuge said it had been an unsettling time, but it was good to be able to provide the 16 staff at Te Rapa with more certainty.
"It is business as usual until June next year, and everybody in our team at Te Rapa will be looked after. After the power station closes, there will be some opportunities for people to move across Fonterra's Te Rapa team or be redeployed elsewhere within Contact."
