Mercury Energy facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Mercury

Type	Public
Traded as	NZX: MCY ASX: MCY
Industry	Electric power generation
Predecessor	ECNZ, Mighty River Power
Founded	1 April 1999 (1999-04-01)
Headquarters	Auckland , New Zealand
Key people	Vince Hawksworth (CEO)
Products	Electric power
Services	Electricity retailing
Revenue	NZ$2,188M (2022)
Operating income	NZ$581M (2022)
Net income	NZ$469M (2022)
Total assets	NZ$9,660M (2022)
Total equity	NZ$4,752M (2022)
Owner	New Zealand Government (51.15%)
Number of employees	1335 (2022)
Subsidiaries	GLOBUG (prepay power)

Mercury NZ Limited is a big company in New Zealand. It creates and sells electric power. It also offers other services like gas, internet, and mobile phone plans. All the electricity Mercury makes comes from renewable sources. This means they use natural resources that can be replaced, like water, heat from the Earth, and wind.

Mercury gets most of its energy from nine hydro stations on the Waikato River. They also use five geothermal plants in the middle of the North Island. Plus, they have several wind farms. As of June 2021, Mercury had made a lot of electricity. They produced 3,611 GWh from hydro power and 2,594 GWh from geothermal power.

Mercury also sells electricity and natural gas to large businesses. Since 2022, they have offered internet services too. Mercury has offices in many New Zealand cities. These include Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, and Rotorua.

Mercury's Journey: A History of Power

In the 1980s, the New Zealand government controlled most of the country's electricity. This was done through a department called the NZED. Later, the government changed the NZED into a state-owned company. This new company was called the Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ).

In 1994, Mercury NZ Limited was created. It took over the electricity business that used to be run by the Auckland Electric Power Board. Also in 1994, Transpower New Zealand became a separate company. It was set up to own and run the national electricity grid.

In 1996, ECNZ was split into two state-owned companies. These were ECNZ and Contact Energy.

Logo of the former Mighty River Power

By 1998, new laws meant the Auckland Electric Power Board had to sell its electricity business. On April 1, 1999, ECNZ was split again. It became three new companies: Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy, and Mighty River Power. Mercury's part of the electricity business was sold to Mighty River Power. Mighty River Power kept using the name Mercury Energy for selling electricity. The part of the business that delivered electricity changed its name to Vector Limited.

Mighty River Power then took over nine hydroelectric power stations. These stations are on the Waikato River, New Zealand's longest river.

Growing with Geothermal Power

In 2000, Mighty River Power bought the Rotokawa geothermal power station. They worked with a group called Tauhara North No.2 Trust to run it. That same year, they also started the Mōkai geothermal power station. This was a joint project with the Tuaropaki Trust.

In 2002, Mighty River Power fully owned the Southdown power station.

In 2008, Mighty River Power opened the Kawerau geothermal power station. This plant helped provide more electricity to the Bay of Plenty area. In 2010, they opened the Ngā Awa Pūrua geothermal station. It has one of the biggest geothermal turbines in the world. With Ngā Awa Pūrua, Mighty River Power became New Zealand's largest geothermal electricity producer.

In 2009, Mighty River Power sold the Marsden B plant. This plant had been unused for a long time.

Changes in Ownership

In 2011, the New Zealand government announced a plan. They wanted to sell some of their shares in four energy companies. These included Mighty River Power. The government planned to keep 51 percent of the shares. The other 49 percent would be sold to the public.

In March 2012, the government started taking names of people interested in buying shares. Many people wanted to register.

In April 2013, the sale of Mighty River Power was approved. The company offered shares to the public on April 15. However, the sale was paused briefly. This happened because some political parties talked about changing electricity rules if they won the next election. When the sale closed, 113,000 people had bought shares. The government kept most of the shares, owning 51.78 percent.

Logo of the former Mercury Energy

In December 2015, the Southdown Power Station was closed. It was a power station that used gas.

Becoming Mercury NZ Limited

On July 29, 2016, the company changed its name to Mercury NZ Limited. They also launched a new logo, changing from a Roman god to a bee. Research showed that New Zealanders felt a stronger connection to the bee as a symbol.

In August 2021, Mercury bought five wind farms and options for more. At the same time, the new Turitea started making electricity. This added to Mercury's existing hydro and geothermal plants.

In May 2022, Mercury bought the retail business of Trustpower. This included their customers and the Trustpower brand. Trustpower's power generation business changed its name to Manawa Energy. In June 2023, Mercury brought the Mercury and Trustpower brands together under the single Mercury name.

How Mercury Makes Power

Mercury runs 17 power stations. These include 8 hydroelectric stations, 5 geothermal plants, and 4 wind farms.

In total, the company can make 2155 MW of electricity. This includes 1096 MW from hydro, 475 MW from geothermal, and 584 MW from wind.

Future Power Projects

Mercury is also looking at building new power stations. Here are some of their plans:

Other Mercury Businesses

Besides making electricity, Mercury also owns or has a big part in:

• GLOBUG, which sells pre-pay electricity.

See also

• Electricity sector in New Zealand
• List of power stations in New Zealand
• Starship Foundation, a charity supported by Mercury since 2001