Generation

KCE owns four hydro power stations located within the King Country region, and one hydro power station near Shannon. These are operated by Trustpower Ltd.

These power stations are located in some wonderful areas of the country and can be great places to visit. However, because their very nature involves diverting rivers and converting hydro power to energy, there are dangers.

Read about safety at KCE’s power stations.

Environmental Responsibility

KCE takes environmental responsibility seriously, especially when it comes to maintaining the environment around its hydro power stations.

Two environmental initiatives in place are the extensive fish monitoring and fish passage trialling programmes. These programmes – required under KCE’s resource consents – have led KCE to become an expert in effective, simple, fish transfer systems.

During a typical spring, more than 500 migrating eels successfully bypass KCE’s stations, using the fish passages KCE has built. These eels migrate to the oceans where their young (elvers) are born.
Following birth, the elvers begin migrating back up the rivers through the upstream passages. Each year more than 220,000 elvers safely moved upstream past the power stations.

Power stations