The original 1950s turbine (left) has been replaced by a new Voith turbine (right)Voith has reached a significant milestone in its modernisation of the Roxburgh Hydropower Station in New Zealand, successfully commissioning the second of four upgraded turbine units. The project, which targets the phased replacement of four of the original eight 40MW turbines installed in the 1950s, is now halfway through.
The second unit was handed over for commercial operation in mid-August 2025 following a rigorous testing phase and a 10-day endurance run. Drawing on lessons learned from the first turbine upgrade completed in December 2024, Voith and its local sub-contractors managed to reduce the on-site implementation time by more than a month. Efficiency tests conducted in January 2025 confirmed that the first unit met all contractual performance guarantees.
Kirk Pritchard, project delivery manager at
Contact Energy, which owns the Roxburgh facility, said: “The upgraded turbines deliver higher output with the same water flow due to the significant increase in efficiency. Our collaboration with Voith and its sub-contractors has been instrumental in such a successful project. With two units operational, we are on track to modernise this iconic piece of infrastructure that has powered New Zealand for over 50 years.”
The third turbine, manufactured at Voith’s facility in India, arrived at Port Chalmers on 31 August, and will be installed following the dismantling of the existing unit. Each new stainless-steel runner weighs 28.5 tonnes and spans 3.9m in diameter, engineered to maximise energy output and operational reliability.
Raj Vidyarthi, managing director and CEO of Voith Hydro India, said: “This project underscores our ability to seamlessly combine the expertise of our global teams, manufacturing excellence and collaboration with Contact Energy and sub-contractors for successful execution.”
With two units now in operation and the third underway, the Roxburgh upgrade continues to demonstrate the value of international collaboration and modern hydro technology in extending the life and performance of legacy infrastructure.