In June 1976, the construction of a 200 MW power station was completed on the Stratford Power Station site. This comprised four 50 MW units, each a Pratt and Whitney TwinPak of two FT4 gas turbines. The FT4 engine is the stationary version of the Pratt & Whitney JT4. This plant was fired on natural gas. The FT4 units were owned and operated by NZED, NZE, ECNZ and Contact Energy. The four 50 MW units were decommissioned and removed in 2001. These units were used in the construction of the Valley Power Peaking Facility.
In 1993, the Environment Minister Simon Upton established a board of inquiry under the Resource Management Act to hear the application for a resource consent for Electricity Corporation of New Zealand's proposed 400 megawatt Stratford power station in Taranaki. In February 1995, the board of inquiry concluded that the station’s operation would significantly increase New Zealand’s emissions of carbon dioxide and make it more difficult for the Government to meet its obligation to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to their 1990 levels as committed to under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The board of inquiry recommended that ECNZ must establish a carbon sink "sufficient to eventually store in perpetuity the equivalent quantity of carbon emitted from the site over the term of the permit". In March 1995, the Environment Minister Simon Upton approved the expansion of the station to 400-megawatts on the condition that forests were planted to create a carbon sink or the effect of emissions was reduced by greater efficiency elsewhere. In June 2003, a hearing committee of the Taranaki Regional Council granted an application to delete the consent conditions requiring mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions.
Combined Cycle Plant
The plant consists of one 360 MW combined cycle unit, based on a GT26 gas turbine in single shaft configuration. Cooling is achieved with a mechanical draft cooling tower, using water from the Patea River. This plant is known as TCC. Fletcher Construction started construction in 1996 and it was commissioned in 1998. It was purchased by Contact Energy in 2003.
Peaker plant
Over 2009 and 2010, 200 MW of new generation was built on the site, comprising two LMS100 gas turbine units in open cycle configuration. This is used for peaking duty, to complement hydro and wind generation, and was officially opened by Prime Minister John Key on 31 May 2011.
