QLDC to heat Lake Wakatipu

Date:

Apr 1, 2018

Queenstown Lakes District Council has today announced plans to heat Lake Wakatipu to make it more agreeable to swimmers and bathers all year round.

Mayor Boult announced the ambitious project as part of a wider strategy to warm up all three of the district’s major lakes over the next two years.

“Our engineering team has spent countless hours looking into the best way to do this sustainably and have conceived a cutting-edge technique using geothermal energy to warm the lake.”

“By harnessing the power of the lava found deep in the core of the earth we are confident we can heat Lake Wakatipu to a steady year-round temperature or 25 degrees Celsius, just below that of an Olympic swimming pool.”

Under the working name of Project Fullahotair, engineers will soon begin a programme of drilling large vents into the bed of the lake, which will release huge amounts of geothermic energy in the form of heat. It is expected that by 1 April next year the lake will be sitting at the target warmth, at which stage work will begin on lakes Wanaka and Hawea to achieve the same result.

“No one likes swimming in a cold lake, and even in the peak of summer Lake Wakatipu is a pretty chilly option for most people. Using the power of lava, which is pretty hot, we expect to see a much greater utilisation of the lake space, and a corresponding boost in visitor numbers and commercial and recreational opportunities across the Wakatipu Basin.”

“Once this has been successfully implemented, one year from today, we will begin work on Hawea and Wanaka, and will take any learnings from this project into these bodies of water.”

The budget for the initial project has been loosely set at $14 billion dollars over the next twelve months, and work will begin today, Sunday 1 April 2018.

ENDS