real time web analytics
Report - - New Plymouth Power Station, New Plymouth - October 2014 | European and International Sites | 28DaysLater.co.uk

Report - New Plymouth Power Station, New Plymouth - October 2014

Hide this ad by donating or subscribing !

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
The New Plymouth Power Station, located at Port Taranaki, is a former thermal power station and was fuelled dually by both gas and oil; it was originally designed to produce power using coal until the Maui gas field was discovered off the coast of Taranaki. The plant was commissioned in 1974, to meet the rising electricity demands across New Zealand, and by the late 1970’s it became one of the largest power plants in the country. By this time the plant housed five identical units, comprising of boilers, provided by ICL of Derby (UK), and steam turbines, from C. A. Parsons of Newcastle (UK). For cooling processes, the plant made use of both seawater and hydrogen. At the start of the millennium, though, discussions surrounding the plant’s future were held, due to rising concerns around its environmental efficiency and the general age of the site and its technology. New Plymouth Power Station was later decommissioned in 2008 after the discovery of asbestos in the thermal insulation, although part of the site was temporarily reinstated in the same year due to poor rainfall, resulting in a shortage of power as lake inflows for other hydro power stations were insufficient to meet the general supply and demand. The New Plymouth Power Station, and others like it, often played a pivotal role in sustaining the supply of power across New Zealand in drier years.

We left the city of Hamilton just as it was growing dark, having decided that New Plymouth didn’t look all that far away on the map; it was only a finger’s length after all. Day rapidly transformed into night, but with determination and an incredible amount of caffeine, we pressed on. Despite nearly running out of fuel – risky business in a country that doesn’t know what a service station is – we survived and made it to New Plymouth in the middle of the night. But, that’s when the real adventure began. We had to navigate our way down the sea cliff, towards the beach where we were greeted by a mob of angry seals. Getting past them initially proved effortless, it was only on the way out that a rather large one caused Zort to shit himself and leap, much like an Olympic triple jumper, into my arms. Needless to say, we managed to avoid being eaten, and enjoyed another disappointing night’s sleep in the car. The explore itself, at first, seemed more like a catastrophic disaster zone, with bits of turbine lying outside the plant. Inside the situation was not much better, as pipes and ladders were bent and distorted and layers of think dust coated absolutely everything. Demolition is going smoothly it would appear. The highlight of the explore, though, was the control room. Having stumbled upon this, after feeling defeated in the mutual agreement that access was blocked, was an ecstatic moment; and to make the situation ever better, the controls were switched on! The sound of several machines humming softly in the background felt like music to the ears.

Explored with Urbex Central NZ; Nillskill and Zort. All credit to Nillskill and his ceaseless determination on this one.

1: New Plymouth Power Station (From Clifftop)

DSC_0173a_zps36a0627d.jpg


2: Oil Burning Plant Internal Combustion Ltd.

DSC_0012b_zpsb1574a3d.jpg


3: Mangled Pipes and Valves

DSC_0016b_zpse2100d4c.jpg


4: Into the Depths of Pipes and Workings

DSC_0020a_zps68372820.jpg


5: Over the Wall

DSC_0030a_zps45b81c1d.jpg


6: Climbable Tanks

DSC_0033a_zpsf06727e1.jpg


7: 'Demolition in Progress' Side

DSC_0036a_zps8b91b82c.jpg


8: Crumpled Ladder

DSC_0037a_zps697ee931.jpg


9: Very Large Ropes

DSC_0038a_zps31f2962f.jpg


10: Staircase Leading to Control Rooms (Eventually)

DSC_0042b_zpsd6f5e48c.jpg


11: Walkway/Observation Platform

DSC_0045a_zpse46485ae.jpg


12: The Carnage

DSC_0050a_zps895a05fe.jpg


13: The Whole Former Turbine Room

DSC_0054a_zps6ace2146.jpg


14: Empty Spaces

DSC_0064a_zpsbacd590f.jpg


15: Rusting Barrel

DSC_0075a_zps4b7eb5fc.jpg


16: The Control Room

DSC_0103a_zpsd95749b5.jpg


17: One of the Main Control Desks

DSC_0087a_zps956b123a.jpg


18: Controls Left On

DSC_0088a_zps39265d7a.jpg


19: Working Control Panels

DSC_0090a_zps7d3451c5.jpg


20: Computer Space

DSC_0091a_zps15a510a4.jpg


21: Unit 2

DSC_0094a_zps3ca4cf9e.jpg


22: Smaller Control Desk

DSC_0101a_zps9c79993b.jpg


23: Additional Controls

DSC_0106a_zps5c1ff334.jpg


24: Machine with Paper Behind Protective Glass

DSC_0109a_zps9b3cb40b.jpg


25: Smaller Machines with Paper

DSC_0111a_zpsec46c626.jpg


26: Emergency Radio

DSC_0116a_zpsf22b95ce.jpg


27: Some Negative Vibes

DSC_0122a_zps2b7f0cfc.jpg


28: Many More Switches

DSC_0128a_zps052de9e7.jpg


29: Evacuation Alarm

DSC_0129a_zps78d20dba.jpg


30: Small Monitor (One of Several Around the Room)

DSC_0130a_zps1a3c2486.jpg


31: Keys Left Inside the Control Panel

DSC_0146a_zpsa60edc5e.jpg


32: Electricity

DSC_0151a_zps7be58c31.jpg


33: The Humming Machines

DSC_0153a_zpseab29e72.jpg


34: Not in the Dark Ages

DSC_0159a_zpsb20eb2e9.jpg
 

Oxygen Thief

Admin
Staff member
Admin
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Nice work mate, shame it's been stripped out, you just missed that I guess, who knows what it would have been like just a few months earlier. Control room is mint though to make up for it.
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Nice work mate, shame it's been stripped out, you just missed that I guess, who knows what it would have been like just a few months earlier. Control room is mint though to make up for it.

Yeah, was hoping to see some turbines, but the control room definitely made it well worth it.
 

slayaaaa

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Wow, great that the control room was on, looks ace. Shame it's being torn down. Thanks for sharing.
 

ACID- REFLUX

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Nice ones matey :thumb

Nice pics and ditto the control tower very sci-fi esque :)

Like the write up, rather be bit by a Secca dog than an angry Seal!

Is there much left for you to do over there ? How about Dogs place, be ok if he catches you just believe he's Jesus and you'll be on yr way lol
 

Bugsuperstar

Irresponsible & Reckless
Regular User
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

That control room is a winner! Good stuff again. Enjoyed reading that.
 

m9

big in japan
Regular User
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

big fan of that control room!
 

dweeb

28DL Regular User
Regular User
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Nice cast ali sign, I hope that doesn't end up in the tat!
 

Ojay

Admin
Staff member
Admin
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Good to see another station, stripped or not, plenty of stuff left which almost makes up for the missing turb0nz, good effort :thumb
 

Paradox

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Nice!!!!! liking your pics there mate :thumb
 

mw0sec

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Very interesting. I was glad to see the gas detector panels - I used to work for J&S Sieger.

Les.
 

drhowser

Bespectacled & irrelevant
Regular User
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

That control room is amazing! It would have been awesome to see this before the demo started, there were 6 100mw Parsons sets in that turbine hall.
 

huey

28DL Full Member
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Great write up and brilliant pics,enjoyed that a lot
 

WildBoyz

Is this the future?
28DL Full Member
Re: New Plymouth Power Station - New Plymouth - October 2014

Cheers for the comments everyone :) Glad the control room was well received :)
 
Top