Lake Pūkaki and Lake Benmore update

Meridian Energy is planning to release water from Lake Pūkaki to Lake Benmore from Friday afternoon to Sunday night.

Dry conditions in the Waitaki Valley have led to significantly reduced inflows into Lake Benmore from Lake Ōhau and the Ahuriri River.

In addition, transmission and generation outages over the last two months have restricted the movement of water to Lake Benmore. As a result, while Lake Pūkaki storage is above average for the time of year, the level of Lake Benmore has fallen well below average. Outages planned for this week will further affect the level of Lake Benmore. Low lake levels impact the efficiency of Benmore power station and can lead to a significant reduction in electricity generation from Benmore, Aviemore, and Waitaki power stations.

ENDS