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	Stew Hamilton (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 makes and sells electricity, and also offers gas, internet, and mobile phone services. 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 generated 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 to their home electricity customers. Mercury has offices in many cities across New Zealand. These include Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Wellington, and Oamaru.

How Mercury Started and Grew

Early Days of Electricity in New Zealand

In the 1980s, the New Zealand government controlled almost all electricity. A government department called the New Zealand Electricity Department (NZED) made and moved all the power. Later, the government changed NZED into a state-owned company called Electricity Corporation of New Zealand (ECNZ).

In 1994, Mercury NZ Limited was first created. It was set up to manage the electricity supply for Auckland. This business used to be run by a local group. In the same year, Transpower New Zealand was formed. This new company took over running the national electricity grid.

Changes in the Electricity Market

A few years later, in 1998, laws changed. This meant the Auckland electricity business had to sell its parts that sold and made electricity.

In 1996, ECNZ split into two companies: ECNZ and Contact Energy. Then, on April 1, 1999, ECNZ split even more. It became three new companies: Genesis Energy, Meridian Energy, and Mighty River Power. Mercury's part that sold electricity was sold to Mighty River Power. Mighty River Power kept the name Mercury Energy for selling power. The part of Mercury Energy that delivered electricity changed its name to Vector Limited.

Logo of the former Mighty River Power

Mighty River Power took over the nine hydroelectric power stations on the Waikato River. This is New Zealand's longest river. They also got parts of two old oil-fired power stations.

Growing with Geothermal Power

In 2000, Mighty River Power bought the Rotokawa geothermal power station. They worked with a local trust to run it. Also in 2000, Mighty River Power started the Mōkai geothermal power station. This was another joint project with a local trust.

By September 2002, Mighty River Power fully owned the Southdown Power Station.

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

Selling Shares to the Public

In December 2011, the New Zealand government decided to sell some of its shares in four energy companies. This included Mighty River Power. The government wanted to keep 51 percent of the shares and sell 49 percent to the public.

In April 2013, the government approved the sale of Mighty River Power shares. The first sale happened on May 8, 2013. The shares were sold for $2.50 each, raising $1.7 billion. The government kept most of the shares, owning 51.78 percent.

Logo of the former Mercury Energy

Becoming Mercury NZ Limited

In December 2015, the gas-fired Southdown Power Station in Auckland was closed.

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 symbol.

In August 2021, Mercury bought five wind farms and plans for more from another company called Tilt Renewables. At the same time, the new Turitea started making power. This added to Mercury's existing hydro and geothermal power stations.

In May 2022, Mercury bought the part of Trustpower that sold electricity to customers. The part of Trustpower that made electricity changed its name to Manawa Energy.

In June 2023, Mercury brought the Mercury and Trustpower brands together. Now, all their services are under the single Mercury brand.

Where Mercury Makes Power

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

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

Future Power Projects

Mercury is also planning new ways to make power:

Other Mercury Businesses

Mercury also owns or has a big part in:

• GLOBUG, a company that sells pre-pay electricity.

See also

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