Southdown, New Zealand
Southdown | |
|---|---|
Southdown is completely industrial | |
Interactive map of Southdown | |
| Country | New Zealand |
| City | Auckland Council |
| Electoral ward | Maungakiekie-Tamaki ward |
| Local board | Maungakiekie-Tamaki Local Board |
| Train stations | Southdown Train Station (closed) |
| Oranga | Penrose | Mount Wellington |
| Te Papapa |
Southdown
|
Sylvia Park |
| (Mangere Inlet) | (Mangere Inlet) | Westfield |
Southdown is an industrial estate in Auckland, New Zealand. The main company in the suburb was the former Southdown Freezing Works, part of a large industrial zone located near the North Island Main Trunk railway line. The buildings were decommissioned during the 1980s and 1990s, releasing large areas of land to be redeveloped as office parks.
For many years the abattoirs located here were discharging large amounts of untreated waste into the Manukau Harbour. This had a detrimental effect on the ecology of the harbour, which at the turn of the 20th century had been a popular and attractive place to swim, sail, fish and gather shell fish. For most of the middle of the 20th century it was a health hazard and its shell-fish a probable source of food poisoning. Since the freezing works were fully closed in 1981,[1] the water quality has improved greatly.
The Waikaraka Cycleway ends at the bottom of Hugo Johnston Drive, next to the defunct Southdown Power Station.
Hugo Johnston Drive is the site of a historic 2.5ha asbestos cement dump used by James Hardie Industries from 1938 to 1983. The nearby Southdown Reserve (opposite the defunct Southdown Power Station) has been closed to the public since March 1999, after workers discovered asbestos material there.[2]
Power station
The Southdown Co-generation Facility (also known as the Southdown Power Station) was a primarily natural gas-fired combined cycle gas turbine co-generation power station. Originally a baseload station, reduction in production from the Maui gas field leading to increased gas prices meant it transitioned to more flexible peaking generation[3]. It was developed by a joint venture between TransAlta and Mercury Energy.[4]
When commissioned in December 1996, the plant had two General Electric LM6000 aeroderivative gas turbines (2×42MW) and one steam turbine (37.8MW)[3]. The steam turbine used steam produced from exhaust heat of the gas turbines. To provide steam when the turbines were shut down, a gas-fired auxiliary boiler was added in 2005[3]. In 2007 a third LM6000 (47MW) was added[5], capable of running on natural gas or diesel[3]. The plant was originally planned to provide 114MW of power and emit about 410,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually[6]. After upgrades, it produced 170MW of power[7]. The site also had an 800kW diesel powered generator used in site power outage emergencies[3].
A substantial amount of the water required by the station, on average 61% (357,000m3 annually), was supplied by an on-site bore providing non-potable ground water[3]. Natural gas was supplied to the site by pipeline[3].
Power was injected into the double-circuit Henderson to Ōtāhuhu 220kV line via two 11.5/220kV transformers[5]. Steam was piped to consumers in the nearby industrial area - including Carter Holt Harvey’s (CHH) Paper Recycling Mill located nearby[3] - at pressures of 22.5 and 132.0 psi.
In 2000, Mighty River Power purchased 50% of the plant.[8] and purchased the remainder in 2002.[9] In March 2015, Mighty River Power announced that it would decommission the station[10]. Demolition started in May 2022 and was completed in 2024 [7].
Southdown railway station
Southdown railway station was a station on the Southern Line of the Auckland suburban railway network. It was opened to passenger traffic in 1905 and was closed in 2004.[11]
It was double tracked and had an island platform layout. Pedestrian access was via a footbridge connecting the end of Southdown Lane to the Southdown Freezing Works.
Services were withdrawn by the Auckland Regional Transport Authority (ARTA) on 30 May 2004 due to low patronage and safety reasons. In the years immediately preceding its closure, patronage had increased on Auckland suburban trains but Southdown had not followed the trend and passenger usage of the station had declined to only approximately forty people per weekday. Safety concerns were raised due to the poor state of the footbridge used to access the platform, and the fact that to access the footbridge, passengers had to cross an unprotected freight siding.[12]
References
- ^ New Zealand Historical Atlas - McKinnon, Malcolm (Editor); David Bateman, 1997, Plate 97
- ^ "Asbestos strife plagues firm". The New Zealand Herald. 30 November 2000. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Mighty River Power. "Southdown Power Station Resource Consent Application and Assessment of Effects" (PDF).
- ^ Decision 280 (PDF), Commerce Commission, 13 September 1996
- ^ a b "Southdown: Feasibility Study of Direct Embedment at Penrose GXP" (PDF). Mighty River Power.
- ^ NZPA/NZH (24 March 1995). "Mercury Energy plan to build plant in Auckland". Royal Society of New Zealand. Archived from the original on 12 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Southdown Power Station". Ward Demolition. 2024.
- ^ Rotherham, Fiona (29 March 2000). "Southdown joint-venture deal in offing". The New Zealand Herald. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016.
- ^ "Mighty River Power secures interests in Southdown co-generation plant" (Press release). Mighty River Power. 19 November 2002.
- ^ James Weir (24 March 2015). "Mighty River Power to close Southdown power station". Stuff. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- ^ Scoble, Juliet (2010). "Names & Opening & Closing Dates of Railway Stations" (PDF). Rail Heritage Trust of New Zealand. Retrieved 10 October 2019.
- ^ Auckland Regional Transport Authority, "Trains to No Longer Stop at Auckland's Southdown Station from May 30", accessed 3 November 2007.
External links
- Photographs of Southdown held in Auckland Libraries' heritage collections.