Sale of hydro assets confirmed

20 July 2021

The Lines Company (TLC) today confirmed the sale of its hydro generation assets to Southern Generation Limited Partnership for $15.5m.

The sale of three small hydro generation plants at Te Anga, Mangapēhi (both of which are in the Waitomo district) and Matawai near Gisborne, followed a robust and competitive tender process with the sale completing on Monday 19 July.

The successful buyer, Southern Generation Limited Partnership, is New Zealand-owned and operates in the electricity generation sector. They see the acquisition as an opportunity to provide further scale to their operations.

TLC Group chief executive Sean Horgan said, “The hydro plants are better suited to an owner who has a portfolio of power plants and can offset the variable generation that characterises these small hydro plants.”

The sale will allow the TLC Group to focus on more profitable business interests targeting growth and innovation.

This will support TLC’s ability to provide ongoing benefits to customers as the business continues to grow and diversify.

The Waitomo Energy Services Customer Trust Deed required a vote to proceed with the assets’ sale. Run by Electionz, the result of the 2021 Customer Poll was overwhelmingly in support of selling the hydro plants.