New Zealand-based power and gas utility Contact Energy has reported underlying earnings after tax of NZD79.9m for the six months ended December 31, 2008, a 31.2% decrease compared to NZD116.1m for the same period of 2007.
Contact Energy has reported earnings before net interest expense, income tax, depreciation, amortization, financial instruments and other significant items of NZD224.7m for the six months ended December 31, 2008, a 20.3% decrease compared to NZD281.9m for the six months ended December 31, 2007.
David Baldwin, CEO of Contact Energy, said: What the six month period reinforces is how dependent New Zealand is on a robust and reliable transmission grid. It is the backbone to move electricity from power stations across the country to customers.
For a country with a heavy reliance on hydro generation and the potential requirement for increasing quantities of wind generation, and with major load centers geographically isolated from key generation sources, a modern transmission grid that accommodates changing electricity generation and demand patterns is critical to the efficient operation of the electricity market.
“The execution of Contact’s strategy, which was outlined two years ago, is progressing well. Projects currently under construction include the first phase of the Tauhara geothermal project near Taupo, and a 200 megawatt gas-fired fast-start peaking power station at Stratford. In addition, in December 2008, Contact commenced injecting natural gas into New Zealand’s first underground natural gas storage facility near Stratford.”
