Country New Zealand Status Decommissioned | Location Reefton Decommission date 1949 | |
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Owner(s) 1888 – The Reefton Electrical Transmission of Power and Lighting Company Ltd
1946 – Grey Electric Power Board Primary fuel Hydroelectric and steam | ||
Reefton Power Station was the first power station to supply municipal electricity in the Southern Hemisphere.
It supplied electricity to the town of Reefton in New Zealand. The power station turbine was run by water supplied from the Inangahua River via two tunnels and a headrace flume. After the town was connected to the National Grid in 1949 the power station was decommissioned.
Parts of the original structure remain and are accessible via a walking track, and there are plans for restoration of the site. Stage 1 of this planned restoration was completed on April 11, 2015. This included new signage, riverbank preservation and walking track restoration.
References
Reefton Power Station Wikipedia(Text) CC BY-SA