For the first time in New Zealand, the Above Ground Geothermal and Allied Technologies (AGGAT) program will be presented on an international scale. The date and venue for this conference will be on the 30th April at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland. The Conference focuses on above ground geothermal engineering, with an emphasis…
Following the successful contract renewal of the Above Ground Geothermal and Allied Technologies (AGGAT) programme with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), the AGGAT Team research leaders kicked off the new year with a meeting to discuss project plans. The additional members in the group are primarily from the University of Auckland and…
According to Matt Roberts, Executive Director of the Energy Storage Association in the USA, “markets are born at the intersection of policy, technology and opportunity.” This is a simple but fairly profound statement and highlights what should be obvious, which is that policy, technology and opportunity working together make things happen. It’s a bit like…
Dec262014 The New Zealand Geothermal Workshop held in Auckland from 24 to 26 November. HERA Industry Development Senior Research Engineer Dr Boaz Habib recently attended the NZ Geothermal Workshop held in Auckland on 24th – 26th November. The conference was well-attended by the geothermal community and had international attendance from geothermally active countries such as…
The Tiwa Point aluminium smelter operates if they can buy energy they need cheaply enough. That’s what it comes down to in a world of global competition and it’s the same here in New Zealand as elsewhere. Industry operates where it gets the best deal and the price of energy is often part of the…
At the New Zealand Geothermal Workshop held in November 2014, a number of well written papers were presented on various topics related to geothermal research. Among these, some of the best papers were selected based on the value of contributions made to their field of study. Among the prizes awarded was a HERA award for…
For many years, high quality, long service and durability have been associated with austenitic stainless steels such as 304 and 316 grades that account for more than 60% of the Australasian market. Popularity of these steels is due to a combination of good fabrication properties, reasonable level of corrosion resistance and satisfactory experience in many…
The fire design of steel-concrete composite columns using concrete filled tubes to EN 1994-1-2:2005+A1:2014 (Eurocode 4) is seemingly a simple task, assuming that the temperature distribution of the cross-section is conservatively known. Reading the rules in the section that deals with the structural behaviour and evaluation of the resistance to axial compression, one gets the…
The AGGAT program is now getting re-shaped and refined for delivery of its outcomes in the next two years, with a specialist team of researchers being included from the University of Auckland to various research aims. What has been particularly exciting has been our use of the planning tool of cause and effect (Ishikawa or…
The Above Ground Geothermal and Allied Technologies (AGGAT) science research programme initiated as a collaborative effort in October 2012 between NZ Universities, Heavy Engineering industry and Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). The program recently went through its 2 year progress review, upon which MBIE will advise of its continuation of funding for the…