http://www.crest-energy.com/images/large/q061.jpg

Crest Energy lodged applications in July 2006 to use part of the tidal mouth of the Kaipara Harbour in northern New Zealand to generate electricity using submerged marine turbines. Crest Energy plans to generate power for 250,000 NZ homes, or 200 MW, by harnessing about 2% of the power of the tidal flows in to and out of the Kaipara Harbour.

Tidal turbines follow the same principles as wind turbines: the faster the current, and the larger the blades, the more power is generated. There are perhaps a dozen companies constructing tidal turbines and others joining the industry.

http://www.crest-energy.com/images/large/q060.jpg

Crest Energy will develop infrastructure to place 200 turbines in the mouth of the Kaipara. We will offer the turbine locations, with connections to the national electricity grid, to turbine manufacturers, electricity generators and investors. The project should generate about 4% of New Zealand's supply.

Tidal and wind power generation have many similarities and some differences :

* Sea water is 830 times denser than air which means that a tidal turbine can generate much more power for the same flow
* Tidal power works for over 16 hours a day in all seasons
* Tidal turbines are totally submerged and therefore invisible
* Tidal turbines are silent

The Kaipara Harbour is one of the largest harbours in the world covering 900 square kilometres with 3000 kilometres of shoreline. It extends for 60 kilometres north to south. Halfway along its length it has a five kilometre mouth to the Tasman Sea.

The Kaipara Harbour is rarely used for shipping due to the treacherous tides and sand bars at its mouth. For this reason there are no large settlements close to its shores, although many small communities lie along its coastline.

http://www.crest-energy.com/images/large/q003.jpg

The Kaipara Harbour has a number of factors making it suited to marine turbines. Most importantly, around 8,000 million cubic metres of water pass in and out of the harbour each day, which is equivalent to :

* Flooding the island of Manhattan to half the height of the Empire State Building (185 metres/600 feet)
* Covering the land within the London M25 orbital motorway to a depth of 2.8 metres/9 feet
* Occupying a cube of water 2 kilometres x 2 kilometres x 2 kilometres

Kaipara tides average 1.52 m during neap tides and 2.68 m during spring tides. The Kaipara Harbour has a temperate climate with an average annual air temperature of 16ºC (61ºF). It is close to New Zealand’s most populated city, Auckland with 1.5 million residents, and another large centre, Whangarei. There are readily available routes to sell electricity using existing transmission lines.

Prototype and commercial turbines are installed around the world. The best locations are where there are large currents created by tides, or where oceans meet.

Crest Energy believes the Kaipara Harbour is one of the best sites in the world to generate substantial amounts of electricity. The project maintains New Zealand’s tradition of harnessing renewable energy. Over 60% of New Zealand’s electricity is produced from hydroelectric, geothermal, wind and other sustainable sources.

Crest Energy hopes its application to use the resources of Kaipara Harbour for 35 years will be approved by mid 2007, at which point we plan to raise about NZ$50 million (US$33 million). The total costs over ten years are NZ$600 million (US$400 million) offset by modest but growing revenues from year three. Annual revenue from 200 operational turbines is about NZ$110 million at current wholesale electricity prices, and of course more at retail prices. Interested potential investors should visit our Investors page. As compared to the rest of the OECD, NZ has relatively low labour rates which improves the viability of the project, and the legal system is based upon English law.

Many bodies are actively involved in the management of Kaipara Harbour: Northland Regional Council, Auckland Regional Council, Kaipara District Council, Rodney District Council, Central Government and local community organisations.

Tide and gas energy for harbour power plants
NZ Herald 2006/11/20 (Tide and gas energy for harbour power plants)

http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/20Genesis.jpg

Plans have been revealed for two power stations on the Kaipara Harbour.

One will harness the swift current at the harbour entrance and the other will burn gas piped from Taranaki.

The Northland Regional Council will this week publicly notify an application from Crest Energy Kaipara for resource consents to use part of the harbour mouth to generate electricity using submerged marine turbines.

Crest Energy plans to start 200 turbines which it says will supply 200 megawatts - enough electricity for 250,000 homes.

Northland coastal consents team leader Allan Richards said the application would be heard next year by a joint commission of the Northland and Auckland regional councils and the Rodney District Council.

The councils had sought further information from the company about the effect of the project on navigation, fishing and dolphins.

Crest director Anthony Hopkins said the project was a "world first and very challenging".

Only a handful of companies in the world were building turbines to harness tidal power, which worked for 16 hours a day, in all seasons.

The company needed consents for the turbines in water 30m deep and for laying two 30km undersea cables to connect with the national grid.

The other power station proposal is from Genesis Energy, which wants a change to the Rodney District Plan to create a spot zone for a rural gas-turbine station at Kaukapakapa, 8km from Helensville.

Rodney District Council is examining a draft proposal and could publicly notify the bid before Christmas.

Independent commissioners will hear the application from the company, which also needs air and water consents from the Auckland Regional Council.

Genesis Energy spokesman Richard Gordon said the company hoped to be generating 240 megawatts by the summer of 2008-09.

Building a second stage to boost production to 360MW depended on increasing the gas pipeline's capacity.

But Kaipara Forest and Bird convener Suzi Phillips said there were concerns about the station using a non-renewable resource and emitting greenhouse gases.

The tidal power proposal was preferred as it was a sustainable option, but there were concerns about the effect turbines would have on silting and marine life.

Kaukapakapa residents' action group spokesman Judi Candy said the Genesis Energy station was on the State Highway 16 scenic route beside the harbour and its CO2 emissions would be spread all over the township.

Residents had petitioned the district council about the site being the wrong choice.

Check out Crest FAQ (http://www.crest-energy.com/faq.htm) for answers to the effect on marine life.

NZ Herald 2006/11/24 in the Classified section I've just spied Crest Energies notification for resource consents to the Northland, Rodney and Auckland Regional councils. For the above ^^.

Sounds pretty good. NZ is really at the forefront of renewable energy generation. Very cool.

This is probably one of the best renewable options (allows 24/7 generation) that is being developed in the country but has had much less attention; believe it is the start of a $1 billion 300 MW project?

Media Release: 11.10.2006

Largest Geothermal Development in over 20 Years

Mighty River Power has signed contracts to procure generation plant and begin constructing a 90MW, $275 million geothermal power plant in Kawerau, following final consent approval from the Environment Court.

The state-owned electricity generator and retailer made the announcement today on the back of reporting an annual profit (Net Surplus after Taxation) of $100.8 million for the year ended 30 June 2006.

Mighty River Power Chief Executive, Doug Heffernan said the Kawerau project would be the largest single geothermal development in New Zealand in more than 20 years and would produce more energy annually than all the country’s existing wind turbines.

Mr Heffernan said a major contract for engineering design, procurement and the construction of the Kawerau power station had recently been awarded to Sumitomo Corporation after an extensive tender process. The tender process attracted a large international interest because of the size of the project.

“The new power station will significantly increase local generation capacity in the region, meeting approximately one-third of residential and industrial demand in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region. A further advantage of the project is that investment in transmission lines is not necessary as the power station site is situated adjacent to industrial users,” said Mr Heffernan.

He said the project commitment was the culmination of four years of planning which included securing access to geothermal resources via negotiations with the Crown, Ngati Tuwharetoa (Bay of Plenty) Settlement Trust, Putauaki Trust and Norske Skog. Additionally, resource consents were secured which satisfied the local community including large industrial companies at Kawerau and other local landowners.

“Geothermal exploration at a total cost of $50 million had been undertaken on the Kawerau reservoir over the past 2-3 years and further construction activity will commence on site in November 2006.”

Mr Heffernan said that in addition to this major investment at Kawerau, Mighty River Power is well on track to complete the installation of a third generator at its gas fired co-generation plant at Southdown, which will lift total generation capacity to 170MW. Systems tests will be conducted in November with the generator expected to come online in December, just twelve months after project commitment.

Wow NZ is really doing well on the renewable energy front, I think those underwater tidal generators are much better than ugly wind turbines that seem to be planned for everywhere. Also I read somewhere - maybe on SSC - about massive underwater turbines in the Cook Strait which genrate power from the currents to be built in the next 2 - 3 years.

Wow NZ is really doing well on the renewable energy front, I think those underwater tidal generators are much better than ugly wind turbines that seem to be planned for everywhere. Also I read somewhere - maybe on SSC - about massive underwater turbines in the Cook Strait which genrate power from the currents to be built in the next 2 - 3 years.

really?

Mighty River's Kawerau geothermal power station.

Commencement of construction for Mighty River Power?s 90 MW, $275 million power plant in Kawerau.

http://www.pesa.com.au/publications/pesa_news/feb_05/images/nz/Kawerau-2.jpg
Mighty River estimate that geothermal sources could generate 1200 MW, enough for 1.2 million homes.

Kawerau is stage 1 of Mighty River's plans to bring online around 400 MW of geothermal energy in the next five to ten years ? enough power for around 400,000 homes.

LINKS:
New Zealand Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10413128) 2006/11/30
Mighty River Power (http://www.mightyriverpower.co.nz/News/Detail.aspx?id=833) 2006/11/29

Crest energy (http://www.crest-energy.com/index.htm#) have a email (http://www.crest-energy.com/index.htm#) link for submissions to the Northland Regional Council to support or oppose the Crest Kaipara Energy Project.

It was on the news today.:)

It was on the news today.:)

And this mornings NZ Herald (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=39&objectid=10415257) 2006/12/14.

Wind? Tide?

Crap!

NZ has energy resources to burn in the form of *hydro*. The only thing that keeps hydro from being developed is the insanity of the Green lobby.

NZ's South Island West Coast has *hundreds* of deep rainforest valleys that receive *meters* of rainfall every year. But, oh, no!, we can't flood one or two of them because that would kill a few of the sacred kopekanui native snails, or some other completely irrelevant creature.

Cheap, truly renewable, *secure* power supply is being sacrificed upon the altar of misanthropic regulation.

NZ isn't at the forefront of sustainable energy development, it's at the forefront of stupidity and wasted opportunities.

But electricity prices keep rising and the artificial energy crisis keeps on being "looked at" seriously by "very concerned" bureaucrats in comfortable, well-lit, well-heated Wellington offices.

And Kiwis keep falling for it.

Wind? Tide?

Crap!

NZ has energy resources to burn in the form of *hydro*. The only thing that keeps hydro from being developed is the insanity of the Green lobby.

NZ's South Island West Coast has *hundreds* of deep rainforest valleys that receive *meters* of rainfall every year. But, oh, no!, we can't flood one or two of them because that would kill a few of the sacred kopekanui native snails, or some other completely irrelevant creature.

Cheap, truly renewable, *secure* power supply is being sacrificed upon the altar of misanthropic regulation.

NZ isn't at the forefront of sustainable energy development, it's at the forefront of stupidity and wasted opportunities.

But electricity prices keep rising and the artificial energy crisis keeps on being "looked at" seriously by "very concerned" bureaucrats in comfortable, well-lit, well-heated Wellington offices.

And Kiwis keep falling for it.
and how hydro stations have been producing less and less power over the last couple of years, but i would support anything just to piss off the evil communist nazi green party and any environmentalist group

Wind? Tide?

Crap!

NZ has energy resources to burn in the form of *hydro*. The only thing that keeps hydro from being developed is the insanity of the Green lobby.

NZ's South Island West Coast has *hundreds* of deep rainforest valleys that receive *meters* of rainfall every year. But, oh, no!, we can't flood one or two of them because that would kill a few of the sacred kopekanui native snails, or some other completely irrelevant creature.

Cheap, truly renewable, *secure* power supply is being sacrificed upon the altar of misanthropic regulation.

NZ isn't at the forefront of sustainable energy development, it's at the forefront of stupidity and wasted opportunities.

But electricity prices keep rising and the artificial energy crisis keeps on being "looked at" seriously by "very concerned" bureaucrats in comfortable, well-lit, well-heated Wellington offices.

And Kiwis keep falling for it.


I always thought that provided they filled the lake slowly enough they would just move out of the way. We could even transplant some of them.

A friend was part of a team working on a report for future hydro generation sites for the government a few years back. All national parks and the Buller river were not allowed to be included. Sort of limited the remaining options a bit.

I feel sorry for the coasters as they aren't allowed to develop their provence. I seem to remember that they were refused permission to do sustainable logging a while back. I guess tourism is about all thats left.

New Auckland power line gets the nod

2007/01/31 (http://www.stuff.co.nz/3946686a10.html)


UPDATED REPORT: Transpower's planned big new power line to Auckland has been given the green by the electricity regulator today but it still faces opposition from Waikato farmers.

Today's Notice of Intention to approve from the Electricity Commission is subject to a public consultation process and it was not unanimous.

Transpower chief executive Ralph Craven welcomed the decision. He said the proposed new line is New Zealand's largest transmission infrastructure project and the first upgrade to the national grid in the upper North Island in 20 years.

Commission deputy chairman Peter Harris said the authority of the commission and this decision did not intrude into the Resource Management Act process.

An overview of the decision reveals that one commissioner concluded that the plan did not meet the requirements of grid investment test. He differed with other commissioners on market development scenarios and the need for a 440 kilovolt line.

In 2005, the commission put the grid operator's plan for a 440kV line into Auckland on hold, judging it to be too expensive.

Last October, Transpower unveiled a new plan for the line that changed where the network connected in Auckland to Pakuranga, from Otahuhu, reduced the initial power load carried, but did not alter the controversial route through the Waikato. Finance Minister Michael Cullen last year told the grid operator and its regulator to stop behaving like "males rutting" but he denied allegations of political meddling in decision making.

Former commissioner Roy Hemmingway told a parliamentary select committee that he was sacked because he refused to bow to political pressure.

Mr Harris is a former trade union economist and a former staff member in Dr Cullen's office.

Energy Minister David Parker today welcomed the commissions's decision.

The commission will release a detailed statement of the reasons for its decision in mid-February.

There will be an opportunity for the public to make submissions around late March and a public conference was likely to be held in late April or early May.

Transpower is buying up farms along the route to get access. It has purchased 53 of the 297 properties on the route and will onsell the farms when the line is built.

The issue of the security of electricity supply to the country's largest city was highlighted last year when the failure of two 40-year-old shackles cut power to much of Auckland for more than five hours.

For those who don't read the Herald offline or online.

Farmers vow fight as power line approved

2007/02/01 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10421871)


Farmers have vowed to fight the Electricity Commission's approval of Transpower's plan to build a giant new power line to Auckland - even though they could find themselves in court.

John Sexton of Auckland Federated Farmers said the new line was a huge and unnecessary disruption to affected communities.

It was the second blow for Waikato farmers battling Transpower as those denying access to existing lines have been threatened with legal action.

"Auckland and Waikato members of Federated Farmers have been blocking access because we have made no progress after two years of negotiating with the state-owned grid operator.

"Transpower has not conceded one inch in a long-running dispute," he said. "Meanwhile, we are asking landowners to continue to block access to Transpower workers, until a negotiated settlement can be achieved.

"The message to landowners remains the same: Do not agree or sign any documents with Transpower or its agents until Federated Farmers and the Forest Owners Association have a comprehensive agreement with Transpower."

His comments came as the Electricity Commission gave initial backing to Transpower's revised plan to upgrade transmission lines from Waikato to Auckland but has moved to distance itself from consideration of landowners' and residents' concerns.

The commission has given "notice of intention to approve" the plan, which like Transpower's initial proposal, will see 426 pylons with an average height of 59m built to carry power 185km between Whakamaru in South Waikato to a substation near the South Auckland urban boundary. However, the plan differs in that the line, capable of carrying 440 kilovolts (kV), will initially carry 220kV. An upgrade to 440kV is not likely to be required for about 30 years.

The revised proposal also features underground cables between South Auckland and Pakuranga.

A second underground cable section to Otahuhu substation will be added as demand increases.

Commission deputy chairman Peter Harris said the plan was a substantial improvement on the proposal the commission declined last year on the grounds it was too expensive.

The new plan was more reliable, flexible and offered benefits at lower comparable cost.

At $820 million, according to the commission, or $680 million, according to Transpower, it was also about $11 million cheaper than the next best alternative.

Unlike former commission chairman Roy Hemmingway, who last year said he was forced out of his job by Government ministers for opposing Transpower's original plan, Mr Harris said the decision-making process had been free of political pressure. "The Minister of Energy at all stages has made it clear that it's our call."

Under industry rules any "significantly affected party" can request a public conference on the proposal, which the commission clearly expects to happen. Subject to public consultation and further deliberation the commission may or may not confirm its decision but can also amend Transpower's plan.

After publishing detailed information on its initial decision, the commission will accept submissions and intends to hold public conferences in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington in May.

It expects to make its final call at the end of May or early June.

The commission had no authority to intervene in any compensation issues which were a matter for Transpower and landowners.

Oil seeps to surface after earthquake
NZ Herald 2007/03/13 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10428502)

A recent earthquake has brought traces of crude oil to the surface on Stewart Island, strengthening prospects of a significant oil discovery in the nearby Great South Basin offshore area.

Several natural oil seepages have been detected behind the beach at Thule Bay, said Ministry of Economic Development chief petroleum geologist Richard Cook.

The ministry had been monitoring the area, where seepages had been detected years earlier, for some time but found no fresh activity until after the magnitude 4.8 quake last month.

"We are encouraged the latest information strengthens the case for exploration in the area."

While the seepages did not indicate any particular size of oil deposits "the fact that natural oil has been generated out in the basin and seeped up there is encouraging".

"It's just reinforcing the fact that there's oil potential and not just gas."

Crown Minerals has said the enormous potential of the basin, southeast of Dunedin, is "commonly acknowledged" and may even support the large-scale infrastructure needed to produce liquefied natural gas.

It believes the basin may hold more than 5 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas, far outpacing the Maui field with 3.5 TCF.

The Government is asking for tenders, offering 40 blocks over 9000 square kilometres in the basin to oil and gas explorers.

The tenders close on April 2 and, despite the relative expense of drilling in such deep and often stormy waters, Mr Cook said several major overseas explorers had shown "significant interest".

Eight wells were drilled in the basin between 1976 and 1984, with hydrocarbons recorded in four.

At the time, water depth and the isolation made gas reserves in one well "non-commercial" and mechanical problems meant that strong oil shows in another were not properly tested.

Mr Cook said the Stewart Island seepages indicated shallower areas around the margins of the basin might also be worth investigating.

With the tender process expected to be completed by mid-year, it would be three or four years before exploratory drilling began.

If significant reserves were found, it could take between 15 and 20 years before gas or oil started flowing in commercial quantities.

However, Mr Cook said an exploration programme would give the area an economic lift.

Black Gold

* Government geologists say the discovery of oil traces is good news for an oil and gas exploration programme in the nearby Great South Basin.

* Drilling is likely to begin within three to four years.

* Any significant discovery is likely to take 15 to 20 years to develop.

Now that reminds me of a little ditty...



Ballad Of Jed Clampett

Come and listen to a story 'bout a man named Jed
Poor mountaineer barely kept his family fed
Then one day he was shooting for some food,
And up through the ground come a bubbling crude
(Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea)

Well the first thing you know old Jed's a millionaire
Kin folk said Jed move away from there
Said California is the place you oughta be
So they loaded up the truck and they moved to Beverly
(Hills that is, swimming pools, movie stars)

Well now it's time to say goodbye to Jed and all his kin
They would like to thank you folks for kindly dropping in
You're all invited back again to this locality
To have a heaping helping of their hospitality
(Beverly Hillbillies, that's what they call 'em now,
Nice folks Y'all come back now, ya hear?)

^^ Great about the oil discovery but whats with the poem? lol

It's the theme to "The Beverly Hillbillies". A 60's show(comedy) about a family of rednecks from the Appalachians who discover oil on their farm and thus untold riches!

^^ Oh thats right. I know the show I just didnt pick up on the theme :)

Meridian Energy has lodged the first stage of its resource consents for its proposed hydro generation tunnel concept on the north bank of the Waitaki River with Environment Canterbury.

North Bank Tunnel Link (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/NorthBankTunnel/default.htm)

The North Bank Tunnel Concept is a hydro generation proposal taking water from Lake Waitaki and discharging it back into the Waitaki River about 34 km downstream near Stonewall.

Meridian Energy's investigations to date have shown that there is potential for a viable tunnel concept if the water resource can be secured. This staged consenting approach ensures that the essential resource, the water, is available before millions of dollars are invested on detailed engineering investigations and to ensure the community has the opportunity to understand and have input into the concept as it develops. The water-only consents would not authorise the construction of the tunnel or any power station.

The intention is to apply for water-only consents for hydro electric generation from the Waitaki Dam to Stonewall, about 34 km downstream. Over this distance the river drops about 128 metres and it is this elevation drop, or head, that would be utilised by the tunnel concept to generate electricity. The consents would be for a water take at Lake Waitaki and water discharge back into the Waitaki River at Stonewall on the north bank opposite and upstream of Black Point.

A monthly flow regime is proposed for the Waitaki River based on the variable, seasonal values and the electricity demand cycle. This has higher minimum flows than the existing regime and reflects the science and technical work that has been undertaken on the river. The minimum flows vary between 110 and 150 cumecs based on environmental and recreational values including fishing.

All of the effects relating to the water take will be fully assessed in order to provide assurances to the consent authority and the community. Technical assessments have been commissioned on the river environment including wetlands, in-river habitat, salmon angling, recreation, groundwater, landscape and abstractive users. It is expected that these reports will be available in May when open days are planned and workshops on specialist areas will be co-ordinated.

Information sheets (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/NorthBankTunnel/Information+sheets.htm)

Project Hayes is a proposed wind farm on the Lammermoor Range.

http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/6FDB6A82-EABB-408C-A1A7-3492CE4AC5C6/0/Hayes.jpg

Project Hayes Link (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/ProjectHayes/default.htm)

The site is approximately 70 kilometres north-west of Dunedin, and is situated across five private properties. The wind farm would have up to 176 wind turbines, generating up to 630 MW, within the Central Otago District Council's boundary. The project is named after engineer and inventor Eben Ernest Hayes, one of the first New Zealanders to recognise and harness the commercial application of wind power in Central Otago. Hayes developed a wind mill to power his engineering works from 1910 until about 1927, and also invented a wind mill for pumping water that was used on many farms.

Hayes windfarm hearings begin
(http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200704301839/hayes_windfarm_hearings_begin)
Central Otago District Council began considering an application for the country's largest windfarm on Monday.

Meridian Energy wants to build up to 176 wind turbines, covering 92 square kilometres, with a generation capacity of 630 megawatts, on the Lammermoor Range between Alexandra and Dunedin.

More than 1000 submissions have been received on Project Hayes, with slightly more than half of them in favour of the project.

Meridian Energy sought to prevent the district council holding the hearings by petitioning the environment minister, saying the council is not equipped to deal with such a large and complex hearings process.

But the Government refused to intervene, and on Monday a panel began hearing submissions from more than 200 people.

Meridian Energy told the hearing the farm will help cut the country's carbon emissions. It also said it does not consider the Lammermoor Range to be an outstanding natural landscape, citing several legal precedents to support this view.

Meridian lawyer Andrew Beatson told the hearing a public survey found that the land is ranked lowly against other landscapes in the region.

The company says other windfarms in New Zealand have already been built on or near outstanding natural landscapes with support of the Environment Court.

The hearing is expected to take at least three weeks.

Project White Hill is a wind farm currently under construction by Meridian Energy. The wind farm is located west of Lumsden and south-east of Mossburn in northern Southland.


http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/15F0591A-BEA8-4029-ADBF-F9DA19A26BA2/0/WhiteHillupdatedrugbygrdsphotosim1.jpg

Project White Hill Link (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/WhiteHill/default.htm)

The wind farm will have 29 wind turbines with a total capacity of approximately 58 megawatts (MW). It is estimated that when operating at full capacity the wind farm will have the ability to produce enough power for approximately 30,000 homes, equivalent to all the houses in the Southland and Invercargill City districts. Electricity generated by Project White Hill is intended to be supplied into the local electricity network.

March 2007 (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/31DD6995-D95A-4058-A74C-19115B99E8BF/0/ProjWhiteHill5.pdf) Newsletter (461 KB.pdf)


The Site

The core site for Project White Hill is located on the upper area of an outcrop that forms the western end of the Hokonui Hills, with White Hill at the eastern end of the site. The site is approximately 14km west of Lumsden and 9km south-east of Mossburn. It measures approximately 8km by 3km.

Much of the area is owned by Ernslaw One, a forestry company that has a large part of the land planted in Douglas fir seedlings. Meridian Energy owns 610ha of land in the development area.

The Turbines

A comprehensive evaluation of turbine options was undertaken for Project White Hill. The V80 turbine, with a 2MW (megawatt) capacity, was chosen as the most technically suitable machine for the wind farm.

The turbines are made by Vestas of Denmark, the world's largest wind turbine manufacturing company, and are slightly larger than those installed at Meridian Energy's Te Äpiti wind farm.

Project White Hill's 29 turbines will be spaced to ensure that the wind generating capacity of each turbine is optimised and that the effect of each turbine on the others is minimised

V-80 2MW

http://www.vestas.com/NR/rdonlyres/3A4DCAF2-2DEC-4A89-A010-997E17E2D267/0/topProdukter_V80.jpg

Technical specifications


Rotor
Diameter: 80 m
Swept area: 5,027 m2
Speed revolution: 16.7 rpm
Operational interval: 9 - 19 rpm
Number of blades: 3
Power regulation: Pitch/Optispeed®
Air brake: Full blade pitch by three separate hydraulic pitch cylinders


Tower

Hub height (approx.): 60 - 67 - 78 - 85 - 100 m


Operational data
Cut-in wind speed: 4 m/s Nominal wind speed (2000 kW): 15 m/s Stop wind speed: 25 m/s


Generator
Type: Asynchronous with OptiSpeed® Nominal output: 2,000 kW Operational data: 50 Hz/60 Hz
690 V


Gearbox
Type: Planet/parallel axles


Control
Type: Microprocessor-based monitoring of all turbine fuctions with the option of remote monitoring. Output regulation and optimisation via OptiSpeed® and OptiTip® pitch regulation.


Weight
Nacelle:
67 t
Rotor:
37 t
Towers: Hub height IEC IA IEC IIA DIBt II 60 m 130 t 125 t 105 t 67 m 160 t 145 t 125 t 78 m 205 t 200 t 170 t 85 m - - 185 t 100 m - 225 t 200 t t=metric tonnes

Project West Wind is a proposal by Meridian Energy to develop a wind farm in the south-west corner on farmland west of Wellington.

Project West Wind Link (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/WestWind/default.htm)

Meridian Energy has been investigating potential wind farm sites around the country for many years and has identified Wellington as a region with a superb natural wind resource ideal for power generation.

Meridian Energy consulted with interested parties before applying for resource consent to develop the wind farm.

As the country's leading producer of renewable energy, Meridian Energy recognises wind power generation as increasingly important for New Zealand and has made wind farm development a key part of the business.

West Wind Proposal (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/4A221C2F-FC68-46E3-9F21-1C1C6F988EF5/22476/WestWindProposal1.pdf) (1027 KB pdf)

Resource Consent Status

In terms of the central issue in this decision-making exercise, the Commissioners have concluded that not only is the Project West Wind proposal an environmentally responsible method of providing energy for New Zealand, it is also, having regard to the set of mitigation measures imposed, an environmentally appropriate activity in Makara. In essence, the Commissioners have concluded that the proposal is consistent with the purposes and principles of the Resource Management Act relating to the sustainable management of resources.

On the above basis, the proposal to construct, use, and maintain a wind farm comprising 70 turbines, using sea and roading access from Oteranga Bay, on a 55.8 square kilometre site to the west of Wellington City, is granted subject to conditions.

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/cpst_davis/westwind.jpg

Sigh..

http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4029521a8153.html

Spiritual argument wins wind farm case

Opponents of a wind farm planned for a ridgeline west of Hawke's Bay are celebrating after winning an Environment Court appeal.

Hastings-based lines company Unison was granted permission by Hastings District Council to add 37 turbines to 15 for which it already had consent along the Te Waka Range skyline, around the Titiokura Saddle on the Napier-Taupo Road.

But the Environment Court said the cumulative visual effects of the 37 extra turbines and another 75 turbines to be built alongside them by Hawke's Bay Windfarms would be excessive in a sensitive and distinctive landscape.

The extra turbines would also go against Maori spiritual values, including the site's history, water and sacred areas.

Unison said it was disappointed and would appeal.

Environment Court judge Craig Thompson said "it was impossible not to absorb some of the depth of emotion expressed ... about the attachment of people to this area. It not only defines one of the boundaries of their tribal rohe, or districts, it also helps define them as individuals, and as tribal and family groups.

"We have concluded that this proposal does not promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources".

Napier historian Patrick Parsons, who helped the Outstanding Landscape Protection Society in its battle against the turbines, said the decision was a victory for Maori spiritual values and for the values of outstanding natural landscapes.

He predicted it would set a precedent with far-reaching implications for other planned wind farms.

"To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time landscape has won out over turbines.

"I predict other Maori organisations faced with a similar situation will take heart and realise it is worth lodging an appeal."

It would also deter wind-farm developers from setting their sights on other distinctive landforms, such as the Ruahine or Kaweka ranges, or Kahuranaki, near Havelock North.

"We're not anti-wind farm, but there is a lack of a national policy about where they can go. At the moment, all national landscapes are up for grabs."

Wellington lawyer Tania Hopmans, who helped Ngati Tu with its case, said she was not sure whether the decision would have repercussions for Meridian's planned wind farm at Makara, near Wellington.

However, it showed Maori concerns deserved weighting in environmental decisions, and that the Government's enthusiasm for wind farms should not override considerations such as spiritual values.

^^ Oh I know how to fix these people.

Cut their electricity!:bash:

Environment Court decision on West Wind allows Meridian to build 66 of the 70 proposed turbines sought by the company.:banana: :banana:

Technically this could provide ALL of Wellington's electricity!!!!!

Atlast a step in the right direction!

National Business Review (http://www.nbr.co.nz/home/column_article.asp?id=18021&cid=4&cname=Business+Today)

3 News (http://www.tv3.co.nz/News/NewsDisplay/tabid/209/articleID/27081/Default.aspx)

The Dominion Post (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/dominionpost/4060750a10.html)

Oh yea!!! Great news, horray! Silly makara guardians lol.

http://www.oceanpd.com/images/seatrialssmaller.jpg

Construction of these snake like 120m long machines - known as Pelamis - COULD begin in NZ early next year. Developed by Scottish firm Ocean Power Delivery Limited (http://www.oceanpd.com/default.html) these units produce 750kW each (500 homes) and consist of 3 hinged tubular modules and use wave motion to drive hydraulic rams that power generators to generate electricity.

Page 26 of the New Zealand Herald, The Business Herald. May be online later today or tomorrow.

http://www.oceanpd.com/images/Seatrials3.jpg

http://www.oceanpd.com/images/pelamis1_crop.jpghttp://www.oceanpd.com/images/m1%20III.jpg

Wow 120m each. :nuts:

ational grid operator Transpower has submitted an investment proposal to the Electricity Commission for a $521 million grid upgrade to reinforce supply to Auckland and Northland.

The project involved installing 37km of 220 kV underground cable from Pakuranga to Penrose and then to Albany, Transpower said today.

It also allowed for obtaining easements, consents and other preparatory work for a second cable between Penrose and Hobson St in later years.

General manager grid investment Tim George said the proposal provided the best solution to ensure a reliable electricity supply for power users in the north Auckland and Northland areas well into the future.

The demand for electricity in the north Auckland and Northland areas continued to grow and could increase by as much as 21 per cent over the next six years.

The project goes through a densely populated urban area, and when Transpower looked at all options, the underground cable option was $41 million cheaper than any alternative option including further overhead lines, the company said.

It was also the preferred option of the public workshops, Mr George said.

The lodging of the north Auckland and Northland investment proposal followed a robust consultation process that began in May 2006.

The investment proposal is part of Transpower's grid upgrade plan.

Transpower said the plan was being provided to the Electricity Commission by instalments over the next six or so months.

The project involved installing 37km of 220 kV underground cable from Pakuranga to Penrose and then to Albany, Transpower said today.

YES! Underground being the key word! I am so sick of electricity pylons EVERYWHERE in this city. They're such an urban blight. I'm glad they're thinking about undergrounding them!

The development of New Zealand's newest wind farm has begun in the Makara hills west of Wellington.

Dignitaries, including Prime Minister Helen Clark, turned the first sod for Meridian's West Wind project which will provide power for Wellington, Hutt and Porirua cities.

The 62-turbine site is expected to become one of the most productive wind farms in the world.

"It's really a big contributor to our renewable energy targets and in the end New Zealand is using a lot more electricity and we've got to provide it from somewhere" says Meridian chief executive Keith Turner.

The site, which faced objections from some locals, took more than two years to obtain resource consent and is expected to be up and running by 2009.


Clark's speech (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0709/S00482.htm).

About Project West Wind (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/WestWind/default.htm).

The Dominion Post | Friday, 28 September 2007

The Makara wind farm will be the "envy of the rest of the world" and become a symbol for Wellington, according to Meridian Energy chief executive Keith Turner.

West Wind is expected to be the world?s best wind farm, but the plan has been strongly opposed by residents concerned about the noise and size of the giant turbines, some less than a kilometre from homes.

The wind farm is expected to generate power at full potential about 47 per cent of the time, double the international average for wind farms.

Because of the consistent winds at Makara, the project should produce some power more than 90 per cent of the time.

A breeze of about 4 metres a second is needed to produce power, but in storm conditions - more than 25 metres a second - winds will be too strong to produce power.

Marking the turning of the first sod of earth at the $430 million site yesterday, Dr Turner confirmed that Meridian had chosen Siemens 2.3-megawatt wind turbines for the 62-turbine farm.

Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the project. "There will be few cities in the world, let alone capital cities, which can generate renewable electricity from within their boundaries," she said.

Last week, the Government said it aimed to have 90 per cent of electricity from renewable resources, such as wind and hydro power, by 2025.

Miss Clark said the New Zealand Energy Strategy and the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy would be issued next month. They would set out the Government?s plans for a sustainable energy system.

Meridian originally planned 70 turbines, but four were ruled out by the Environment Court, and Meridian itself dropped another four, reducing the cost.

The project will have a total capacity of more than 140 megawatts, enough electricity to power all the houses in Wellington.

"We are absolutely delighted to be able to make a start on building this wind farm, which I believe will become a new symbol for Wellington," Dr Turner said.

The turbines will be 111 metres high, slightly more than the State Insurance Building, one of Wellington?s tallest buildings, and are expected to produce power by 2009.

Meridian said it would add only 40 trucks a day, and possibly fewer, to the existing 700 truck movements a day on Karori Rd. Large pieces of equipment, including the turbines, would be taken by barge to Makara.

Improvements to external roads around the site have begun, as required by the resource consent conditions.

Higgins Contractors has been confirmed as the civil engineering contractor. Higgins was used for Meridian?s first wind farm, Te Apiti, north of the Manawatu Gorge.

Trustpower's plans for a 100-turbine wind farm on the foothills of the Lammerlaw Range, overlooking Lake Mahinerangi (http://www.trustpower.co.nz/Content/Generation/WindFarms/Mahinerangi.aspx), 40km west of Dunedin, has been given the green light by a hearing committee.

However, opponents of the $500 million scheme have already begun preparing an appeal which will take the proposal to the Environment Court, the Otago Daily Times reported today.

A joint hearing committee of the Clutha District Council and Otago Regional Council has granted resource consent to TrustPower, with 178 conditions.

The decision will allow Trustpower to erect more than 100 145m-high turbines capable of generating 200MW of power - enough to supply about 100,000 homes.

Opposition to the scheme has focused on adverse landscape and visual effects.

Is that the one Anton Oliver made a submission against?

:) yeh, probably the same I think.

Good to see it's got consent. NZ needs more windfarms. 100,000 homes... that's like more than Dunedin!

Resource consent seems to be a real pain in the ass. I think for projects like wind farms you should be able to give a big FUCK YOU to opponents. Or suggest to them a coal power station is built instead and give them a choice. They use electricity and it has to come from somewhere.

Lol, it's a human hangup everywhere, the attitude "not in my backyard".

We could do what some European nations are doing and build them several kilometres out at sea.

The Dominion Post (http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4221675a6034.html)
2007/10/01

The Commerce Commission has granted an exemption to electricity and gas network company Vector relating to its investment in generator NZ Windfarms.

The commission said the limited exemption was granted in relation to arms length rules in the Electricity Industry Reform Act which became an issue in board appointments to NZ Windfarms.

Under the Act a company may own both generation and retail businesses, but generally needs permission to own both lines and generation, or lines and retail assets.

Vector has a 19.9 per cent shareholding in NZ Windfarms, which has entered into a joint venture to develop the Te Rere Hau wind farm near Palmerston North.

Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock said the commission had determined that the granting of the exemption would not inhibit competition in the electricity industry as Vector would not be connecting the generation assets to its own network or selling the electricity to its own lines consumers.

UN gives NZ world stage on carbon neutrality

The Government has been given a world stage to showcase its ambitious goal to make New Zealand carbon neutral. The United Nationals Environment Programme has chosen Wellington to be the main host of next year's World Environment Day. New Zealand will highlight the role of technology and forestry management in fighting climate change as part of the day's theme to "kick the carbon habit". World Environment Day has been marked every June 5 in a different city since 1972. The Norwegian city of Tromsoe hosted this year's event, focusing on the effects of climate change and the melting of snow and ice on polar and global ecosystems. Announcing New Zealand's host role, the UN programme said New Zealand was one of the first countries to pledge a carbon-neutral future and would focus on solutions and opportunities to make the transition to a low carbon economy and lifestyle.

Prime Minister Helen Clark first floated the idea of New Zealand aiming to become carbon neutral nearly a year ago, but has never ventured a firm target date. The UN announcement comes less than two weeks after the Government unveiled an emissions trading scheme and set a goal of 2040 to reach carbon neutrality in the transport and energy sector. The Government also aims to lift the country's reliance on renewable energy from 70 percent to 90 percent by 2025, and wants to lead the world in a switch to electric cars. Miss Clark said today that kicking the carbon habit had to be a truly global goal and she looked forward to learning about how other nations were addressing the challenge during next year's events. Environment Programme executive director Achim Steiner said New Zealand was among a pioneer group committed to accelerating a transition to a low carbon and carbon neutral economy.

UN gives NZ world stage on carbon neutrality
*snip*

It's good that business is going all out to get to the carbon neutral status, it will be a big draw card, however, til private transport and freight/logistics switch to a more sustainabile route of transport I find it difficult to see that the carbon neutral tag actually equates to better health within our cities compared to other cities such as Stockholm (no heavy industry and fantastic PT) and others.

New rules on importing old cars might make a difference. I think they come into force at the start of next year. I was reading an article where someone was moaning about having to pay more...

It's good that business is going all out to get to the carbon neutral status, it will be a big draw card, however, til private transport and freight/logistics switch to a more sustainabile route of transport I find it difficult to see that the carbon neutral tag actually equates to better health within our cities compared to other cities such as Stockholm (no heavy industry and fantastic PT) and others.

At least there is the will to change things and I am sure that it isn't going to happen over-night. Once again - more is being done on this front than most Countries. Good on them and good luck :cheers:

At least there is the will to change things and I am sure that it isn't going to happen over-night. Once again - more is being done on this front than most Countries. Good on them and good luck :cheers:

Hey, I praised businesses! I agree that a lot is done to combat business sector pollution. But, when it comes to the average person, you do have to realise there is not quite the same will to change.

New Zealand does still recycle less even than the USA and it has a serious problem with using high powered, large capacity engines in cars.

I would suggest that you take a look at the European directives for climate change and then look back at New Zealands before you say "more than most countries" in fairness to the rest of the world.

I do agree that we are no where near as bad as some countries, but still, we're not as "clean green" as the politicians say by any means. It is deluding ourselves to believe we are. One of the reasons we CAN be carbon neutral is because of the severe lack of heavy industry in this country compared to most western countries.

Take a look at this (http://www.vexen.co.uk/countries/best.html#Environment) and see how much other countries recycle. Compared to most of those we do quite badly...

EDIT: I know I come across as quite confrontational, but rest assured I am only asserting facts. Personally I feel that in some ways more is done in the business sector to combat climate change than in the business sector in the UK. It is the public sector that lets this place down though. :(

This may sound far-fetched but how about New Zealand creators and inventors get onto thinking about creating a New Zealand-brand car. An electric car even. This would set a precedent and would obviously help in our country's goal for carbon neutrality. Some may say we are too small to do so but I think that with the right sense and proper thinking we could make a dinky car brand that New Zealanders would be proud to drive, be New Zealand-made, be kind to the environment, be relatively inexpensive and would help create more jobs. Obviously I don't think that the government should get involved with it (what government has ever, apart from the Nazi Government, taken a responsibility to produce cars) but I think it would put a new, quality brand onto the map and can only be beneficial. Any electric-heads out there with any ideas?

Nobody has made cars in NZ for YEARS. The big overseas car-makers are getting into full electric cars, so we're about 20,000 steps behind them. A nice idea, just I don't think it's that realistic.

Nobody has made cars in NZ for YEARS. The big overseas car-makers are getting into full electric cars, so we're about 20,000 steps behind them. A nice idea, just I don't think it's that realistic.

It would still be incredibly nice for something to be produced locally to help the environment like that. People like Monsieur Aquilone are exactly what we need - people willing to think outside the box on issues.

It would still be incredibly nice for something to be produced locally to help the environment like that. People like Monsieur Aquilone are exactly what we need - people willing to think outside the box on issues.

Aww, how sweet. Thank you very much. All for the betterment of this fair nation.

This may sound far-fetched but how about New Zealand creators and inventors get onto thinking about creating a New Zealand-brand car. An electric car even. This would set a precedent and would obviously help in our country's goal for carbon neutrality. Some may say we are too small to do so but I think that with the right sense and proper thinking we could make a dinky car brand that New Zealanders would be proud to drive, be New Zealand-made, be kind to the environment, be relatively inexpensive and would help create more jobs. Obviously I don't think that the government should get involved with it (what government has ever, apart from the Nazi Government, taken a responsibility to produce cars) but I think it would put a new, quality brand onto the map and can only be beneficial. Any electric-heads out there with any ideas?

Fanny-tastic idea ..... let the Government know or contact http://www.aucklandplus.com/index.cfm

It is worth a try and it might be food for thought ;)

Thanks for the link. I am sure this idea has potential - we may be 20,000 steps but we will just have to run!

New milestone for Windflow Technology
SCOOP - Thursday, 4 October 2007, 10:22 am

Windflow Technology today announced confirmation of the 4th consecutive multi-million dollar order of Windflow 500 turbines for the Te Rere Hau windfarm. The 16 new Windflow 500 turbines will be installed on the wind farm near Palmerston North which has resource consents for a total of 97 wind turbines. This order means that 44 turbines are on order for the wind farm to augment the five that have been operating for the past year. The order is worth more than $12 million to Windflow Technology which is a New Zealand owned and operated public company.

According to Chief Executive and Director Geoff Henderson, “The ongoing commitment of the Te Rere Hau joint venture partners (NZ Windfarms, Babcock & Brown Windpower and NP Power) demonstrates the value that they attribute to our turbines. The unique Windflow 500 addresses the challenge of sustainability by being smaller and lighter while being purpose built for the roaring 40 wind strength peculiar to many of New Zealand’s rugged ridge lines”.

Windflow Technology’s recent move into new 850 square metre Christchurch premises has provided additional capacity to streamline nacelle production. The additional space will also provide for parts storage and office space for up to 40 staff. Windflow Technology is currently engaged in a planned recruitment drive that will likely be repeated in several supplier factories throughout New Zealand. Over 92% of the Windflow 500 component parts are Kiwi Made in engineering factories across the country.

Fanny-tastic idea ..... let the Government know or contact http://www.aucklandplus.com/index.cfm

It is worth a try and it might be food for thought ;)

I am really starting to get serious about this little plan I have hatched in my head and so I am asking my fellow SSC friends if you have any ideas for cool little designs for a badge for the car brand of which I am still pondering names etc. I have been doing quite a bit of research actually and it would be good to start this off. I am determined. So if anything pops into your head, I would really appreciate your help.

At first I was thinking of a Southern Cross design but then people might think either Australia or Christianity. Then I thought of the Southern on it's side, but that is kind of...just...different.

I want to try to avoid something which is outright Pasifika or Maori as it may just look kitch unless I can come up with (or you, my friends) a design that incorporates these features which would look really striking.

Thanks all for your attention and help.

maybe an arrow down to represent the north island, and then an exclamation mark to represent the south and stewart island...
I wish we had a drawing tool in this forum...but the arrow would be facing south east and the exclamation south-west!
Just an idea lol

I have done the cursory beginnings of a business plan for this car idea and because I am completely free and am very entrepreneurial, I want this idea to work (though keep it hush hush for the moment) and so things are progressing well. Would appreciate any advice or ideas if you have some, thank you.

NZ Energy Strategy is due to come out today. Supposedly it will shape our energy future for the next 50 years - pretty important document!

^^ Here they come.

One News

(http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/1316907/1398349)The government has released two major strategies for dealing with energy demand and the need for energy conservation, setting some ambitious goals in an effort to improve New Zealand's energy efficiency

The New Zealand Energy Strategy sets a raft of targets, including getting 90% of our power from renewable energy sources by 2025, the insulation of 180,000 homes, new goals for business, and a push to halve the amount of greenhouse gases emitted from vehicles by 2040.

The energy strategy was launched alongside the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said the strategies set New Zealand firmly on a path towards clean, renewable energy and therefore a secure energy future.

"It's important that New Zealand plays its part in tackling climate change. We need to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions from energy use," she said.

Clark and Energy Minister David Parker say the measures outlined in the strategies support the recently-announced emissions trading scheme.

More Detail from STUFF.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/4234056a10.html)

The Government has outlined its long-term plan for energy generation and efficiency, including restrictions on fossil fuel generation, gas-guzzling cars, and moves to make homes warmer and drier.

Energy Minister David Parker said the strategy responded to two challenges - to fight climate change emissions and secure clean and affordable energy.

Ministers would tell state owned generators there was no need for new baseload fossil fuel generation for the next ten years. They would also consider regulations under the Electricity Act to apply the ten year limit to private companies, such as Contact Energy, as well.

"The Government expects all generators ... to take its views into account when considering new generation investments and the Government will advise state-owned enterprises that it expects them to follow this guidance," the strategy states.

A national policy statement on renewable energy would be developed in 2008 that would give guidance on resource consents but not make it mandatory to approve renewable projects.

He said renewable generation plans should not go ahead at any cost, and he foresaw more wind generation and geothermal power rather than new hydro development.

Rules would be put in place on the importation of new and used cars to ensure they are 25 per cent more fuel efficient by 2015 than those imported at present.

It would see a large increase in the number of diesel vehicles and is expected to save motorists 4.8 billion litres of fuel by 2025.

That would see efficiency gains of 7.4 litres per 100 kilometres travelled by petrol cars and 6.5 litres per 100km for diesel vehicles.

Funding already included in the last Budget will see 180,000 homes get insulation, clean heat and solar hot water upgrades.

The total plan is expected to lead to cumulative savings on energy bills of $2.7 billion by 2025.

Thought is also going into banning landlords from renting properties without adequate insulation and heating.

The energy efficiency strategy is expected to deliver non-transport energy savings of 30 petajoules a year by 2025 - the same as the electricity used by 30 cities the size of Nelson.

Ms Fitzsimons said the plans outline would help families, business and travellers to save energy, money and emissions.

"On top of that, it will deliver significant health and environmental benefits. The time for writing strategies is over - now its time for action."

Prime Minister Helen Clark said by developing a secure energy system based on renewable, low-emission generation "we can improve the quality of life for new Zealand families, drive the transformation of our economy and cement in sustainability as a core part of New Zealand's identity and value system".

^^ A step in the right direction.

Thought is also going into banning landlords from renting properties without adequate insulation and heating.
Woohooo.... hurry up on that one our old Bungalow was freezing this winter!

From The Herald:

Power plant falls foul of energy strategy
6:20PM Thursday October 11, 2007

Genesis Energy's gas-fired power station planned for Rodney is unlikely to proceed following the release of the Government's energy strategy today.

Ministers said today they did not want any new fossil fuel burning power generators built for the next 10 years unless they were needed for emergency back-up.

Prime Minister Helen Clark speaking at the launch of the strategy said she wanted the sector to focus on renewable energy unless new coal and gas fired stations were needed to ensure security of supply.

Energy Minister David Parker said the state owned generators - which dominate the sector - had been told not to proceed with any plans to add thermal power generators to their baseload ability.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen said it was hard to see how state owned enterprise (SOE) Genesis' plant would get the go ahead under the strategy "unless there was an absolutely clear offset against higher emitting thermal capacity elsewhere".
[continues... (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10469349)]

Looks like we're finally doing something more than talking about climate change :)


Build no more fossil-fuel power stations, says Government
5:00AM Friday October 12, 2007
By Brian Fallow
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/3/story.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10469420&pnum=0
http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/power5.jpg
The Otahuhu power station dominates the landscape over Otara Creek.

The Government is to direct state-owned electricity generators not to build any more fossil fuel-burning power stations and is considering extending the ban to private sector generators as well.

Unveiling its energy strategy yesterday, Energy Minister David Parker said the Government's view was that all new generation should be from renewable sources, except to the extent needed to ensure security of supply.

He would be writing to the SOE generators making it clear the Government expected them to follow that guidance.

Because competitive neutrality between the private sector and the SOEs was important, the Government was considering legislation to limit new baseload fossil fuel generation over the next 10 years, he said. It would decide by the end of the year.

That would curtail investor-owned Contact Energy's rights to build another gas-fired plant at Otahuhu, as well as state-owned Genesis Energy's plans for one at Rodney. Contact already has resource consents for Otahuhu.

It has said it intends its next $2 billion of generation investment to be renewables, but has warned that it might need to go ahead with Otahuhu C if it continues to suffer delays in getting resource consents.

Contact has called for greater use of the Government's powers to "call in" nationally significant projects under the Resource Management Act and direct them either to a special purpose board of inquiry or to the Environment Court - speeding up the consent process.

Parker said the call-in power was there to be used. "I expect more projects to be called-in in the future".

Genesis has just completed a 400MW gas-fired plant next to its old 1000MW coal-fired plant at Huntly.

It plans a similar 240MW machine at Rodney by 2010 and another at the same site by 2015, allowing it to progressively move the coal-burning plant to a reserve role.

By frustrating Genesis's plans for more gas-fired capacity the Government risks keeping Huntly's emissions-intensive plant operating harder for longer.

"It's a fiction that building more thermal power stations reduces your long-term emissions," Parker said.

"It's better to take longer to retire existing thermals and replace them with renewables."

Parker also rejected the idea that this sort of regulatory intervention could be seen as a vote of no confidence in the emissions trading regime the Government plans for the electricity sector from 2010. "We are in a transition and we want to be certain we are pointed the right way. We don't think it will impose any additional cost on consumers," he said.

Cost curves in the energy strategy document indicate the Government believes up to 3000MW of geothermal and wind power capacity is available at prices competitive with gas-fired generation, assuming a gas price of $9 a gigajoule and a carbon price of $25 a tonne. That carbon price would add 2c a kilowatt/hour, or 10 per cent, to the retail price of electricity.

If gas prices were to move higher than that, towards the cost of imported liquefied natural gas, or if carbon prices rose in the longer term towards $50 a tonne, renewable generation would be cheaper than gas-fired generation, it says.

But Major Electricity Users Group executive director Ralph Matthes said the market should be allowed to determine whether renewables were cheaper or not.

"It's pretty draconian. Not so much a strategy as a green wish list."

Genesis chairman Brian Corban said it was helpful to know the policy framework the company would have to operate in.

And it was proper for the Government as shareholdler to set parameters for strategic direction and major capital invetsment.

"So I have no problem with it. In fact it gives us greater certainty."

Government plans

* The Government has set a target of meeting 90 per cent of electricity demand from renewable sources like hydro, wind and geothermal steam. It is about 70 per cent now.

* It will tell the three State-owned generators not to build any more fossil-fuel plants for everyday baseload purposes. Some might be needed as peaking or reserve capacity.

* And it is considering legislating to extend the ban to private sector generators, in practice Contact Energy.

Monster wind farm would be one of world's biggest
NZ HERALD - 5:00AM Wednesday October 17, 2007

http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/windfarm230.jpg

Contact Energy's proposed giant wind farm south of Port Waikato, with 218 turbines standing 150m high, could be among the biggest in the world. The project will cost up to $2 billion and have the potential to produce up to 650MW, enough to power about 250,000 homes. The world's largest wind farm, Horse Hollow in the Texas panhandle, generates 735MW, although plans for a 1000MW farm in Australia were recently announced. The Port Waikato turbines would cover an area of 320sq km, 35sq km bigger than Great Barrier Island. Spokesman Jonathan Hill said it was hoped construction of the wind farm - which will be known as Hauauru ma raki, meaning northwest wind - would be well under way by 2010 and completed by 2014.

A resource consent application would be filed by the end of the year. He said Contact Energy had not bought the land, but had negotiated with owners for access rights. "We've negotiated access agreements with them and obviously there's a commercial relationship which takes place whereby landowners that have turbines on their land stand to benefit from that commercially. It's a new form of farming. It's effectively farming the wind." He said more than 20 farmers had signed up to the project. "This is extremely remote and very isolated, productive farm land ... there are very few other houses in the area beyond those that are participating in the project so the visual impact will be very low." He said the nearest house that wasn't directly participating in the scheme was about 1km away.

"[Initially] we removed about 100 turbines from the project for a whole range of reasons including the visual impact and the potential for noise. We've come up with a very good scheme that balances the needs of the locals against the needs of the country for renewable energy." The announcement comes less than a week after Energy Minister David Parker said power companies are likely to face a 10-year ban on building gas-fired, base-load generators. Contact Energy said it also planned to build a flexible, fast-start 100MW gas-fired plant at its Stratford station to meet demand at peak times. Chief executive David Baldwin said the new peaking plant would likely cost about $140 million and could be operating by 2009. Analysis conducted into the economic benefits of the wind farm suggested more than $100m could be injected into the Waikato economy during the four to five year construction period, with about 450 jobs likely during construction.

That would be followed by millions of dollars each year when the wind farm was operating. Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority chief executive Mike Underhill said: "If given the go-ahead, it will make a significant contribution towards attaining the target of 90 per cent of New Zealand's electricity being provided by renewable sources by 2025." Greenpeace climate campaigner Jim Footner said renewable forms of energy were essential in tackling climate change. "[But] it is important that wind farms are sensitively and appropriately cited and that a rigorous planning regime is in place to ensure this. Greenpeace supports and urges a robust consultation and consent process that considers or mitigates local environmental, iwi and resident concerns, against the positive national and global effects of new wind applications on a case by case basis."

Port Waikato residents and ratepayers' association president Duncan Granshaw said locals were waiting to hear more about the wind farm before forming any opinions on the proposal. "Down at the local shops nobody seems too concerned but then no one has much information yet," he said. Glennys Smith, who owns a bed and breakfast near Port Waikato, said she understood locals would not be able to see the turbines from the road. "They are fairly big sheep stations down there and the coast is quite a way from the road. They will be quite in the distance. I send my tourists down that way. It's quite beautiful, but honestly you can't see much from the road." Ms Smith said the income from the wind farm would be welcome. "Some of the farmers will be pleased to have the income. I think some of them are actually looking forward to having some work down there.

750MW is one hell of a monster! I believe this MUST get the green light.

It is essential for more of these facilities to be located in the North Island. This should reduce the reliance on the Cook Straight cables.

I much prefer a big wind farm to a fission reactor. Natural or man made action can take out a reactor, but farms are spread over 320sq km!

build it build it build it

They should re-add the 100 turbines chopped, too wishful-thinkingish however I believe.

We could easily have all of our power renewable if it weren't for twats going on about being 'guardians of the land' or some other bullshit. At worst you'll have to flood entire towns for hydro dams but I just say screw them. I think the benefits of having completely renewable energy far outweigh a few thousand people relocating.

Here's something. An historic village in France (YES, France, a country of such laws protecting national monuments etc.) was flooded and relocated for energy use and now it makes a really beautiful lake. New Zealand is so limp-wristed when it comes to these things.

while they look spectacular in White .......they do show up a bit too much , especially if there ganna be heaps around the Countryside :nuts: ....

This is a pretty remote area. Great idea, and I hope that it does go ahead - it's the kind of project that would take away a lot of the dependence that Auckland has on the Huntly Coal Power Station.

Just rememeber that wind farms generally only operate at full capacity around 40% of the time, so you have to "over build" a lot. As they're not 'baseload' (any time) generators, they can't truly "replace" coal stations. However, they can ensure that the coal generators don't need to be used as often.

This is why I think that geothermal is what NZ really needs to exploit more for power generation. Geothermal is truly unusual in being clean and renewable, yet at the same time can provide "baseload" generation.

Im all for the new wind farm. Brilliant idea.

^^ What he said.

NZ is an ideal country for windfarms. Lots of coast with pretty constant wind supply.
Personally I find large wind turbines graceful to look at. 218 turbines is a very big windfarm indeed. Will be great to get it built and running.
There are uncountable kms of coastline and hill country where wind turbines could be placed. They don't all need to be projects of this magnatude. Many of the sites may only have 2 to 10 large turbines (for country towns or local industry for instance).

And then you have the off-shore location variant

http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/593/turbineswaterba1.jpg

Project Hayes

Project Hayes is a proposed wind farm on the Lammermoor Range. (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/ProjectHayes/default.htm)

http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/6FDB6A82-EABB-408C-A1A7-3492CE4AC5C6/0/Hayes.jpg

:banana:Meridian gets nod for Otago wind farm (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10473179):banana:
NZ Herald
2007/10/31

A controversial 176-turbine wind farm planned for Otago's Lammermoor Range has been given the go-ahead.

Commissioners appointed by Central Otago District Council have decided in a majority decision to grant consent to Meridian Energy for the project.

Conditions included a requirement for the consent holder to submit detailed environmental and traffic management plans for approval before starting construction, the district council said today.

Opponents of the proposal include All Black hooker Anton Oliver, who presented a 75-minute, 21-page submission against the proposal at consent hearings, and poet laureate Brian Turner.

Resource consent applications were made to the district council and the Otago Regional Council in mid to late 2006. Six weeks of public hearings were held from the end of April this year.

A statement from Meridian said chief executive Keith Turner was worried about how progress on the so-called Project Hayes would be affected by management issues surrounding the electricity link between the North and South Islands.

The charging regime for the HVDC (high voltage direct current) link disadvantaged new South Island generation projects, he said.

It made such projects more expensive at a time when South Island security of supply was under generation pressure.

"We are also told that if the link is upgraded, South Island generators will have the cost imposed on them even when the upgrade is needed to bring power south," Dr Turner said.

"(Project Hayes) has the potential to be a world class wind farm. It also has the potential to address the sudden security of supply problem facing the South Island, which was created when Transpower unexpectedly closed down one half of the Cook Strait transmission link recently."

The wind farm would be developed on an area of around 92sq km about 70km northwest of Dunedin. It would generate up to 630 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply up to 263,000 homes.

Te Rere Hau wind farm

http://www.nzwindfarms.co.nz/our-windfarms/te-rere-hau-wind-farm/te-rere-hau-wind-farm/te-rere-hau-location-map

NZ Windfarm's (http://www.nzwindfarms.co.nz/our-windfarms/te-rere-hau-wind-farm) first project is a 48.5 MW wind farm situated on the Tararua Ranges near Palmerston North. The $80 million project received resource consent in May 2005 for up to 97 turbines which will be built in stages on this world class site (over 10 m/s mean annual wind speed).

Construction started in January 2006 and Stage 1 was officially opened by Prime Minister Helen Clark on 15th September 2006. (http://www.nzwindfarms.co.nz/our-windfarms/publications/press-releases/prime-minister-opens-the-first-2018made-in-new-zealand2019-wind-farm)

Extension to Manawatu wind farm (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10473127)
NZ Herald
2007/10/31

NZ Windfarms plans to seek resource consent to extend its Te Rere Hau wind farm near Palmerston North, hoping to add up to 37 more turbines.

The 48.5 megawatt site in the Tararua Ranges is consented for 97 turbines. The company would discuss the proposed extension with landowners, community groups and the public before making formal resource consent applications, NZ Windfarms chief executive Chris Freear said.

"The Te Rere Hau site is meeting expectations. It's located on one of the windiest ridges in New Zealand, which is one of the premier wind farming locations in the world," he said.

Te Rere Hau, NZ Windfarms' first wind farm, is a joint venture with global wind energy investors Babcock & Brown and NP Power and uses New Zealand-made Windflow 500 turbines.

The first stage has been operating since September 2006 and supplies electricity to the local lines network.

Trustpower seeks permission for $440m windfarm

NZ Herald
2007/11/07 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10474424)

TrustPower is seeking planning permission for a 240MW wind farm near Gore.

The Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm will be built entirely on privately owned farmland and will have a maximum of 83 turbines, each with a maximum height of 145m.

TrustPower, which lodged the application yesterday, says the proposed wind farm would be built in stages, with a projected total cost of $440 million, and at full capacity could supply the equivalent of 113,000 homes.

The final cost would be determined by prices for turbines, which are in high international demand, and the exchange rate.

The wind farm will require a transmission line of up to 4.1km to connect to existing Transpower 220kv transmission lines.

Community relations manager Graeme Purches said there had been opposition from neighbouring landowners worried about the impact of the wind farm on their land values.

The company was confident this would not be the case and TrustPower would indemnify them against any loss in value if that was what they wanted.

It was expected construction could generate more than $50 million income for the local community.

Early last month TrustPower was given the green light for a wind farm at Mahinerangi, 40km west of Dunedin, a 200MW project that could ultimately supply enough electricity for 100,000 homes.

A joint hearing committee of the Clutha District Council and Otago Regional Council - which is also hearing the Kaiwera Downs application - has granted a series of resource consents to TrustPower but attached 178 conditions.

The Mahinerangi project would cost about $400 million and owing to its location near the lake supplying TrustPower's four-station Waipori hydro scheme, the wind farm would allow TrustPower to make best use of both the wind and hydro resources.

Last week State Owned Enterprise Meridian was granted approval for a 176-turbine Project Hayes wind farm in Central Otago worth around $1.5 billion.

TrustPower is also seeking resource consent for remodelling existing hydro schemes on the Arnold River, near Dobson, and Wairau Valley, in Marlborough.

At Arnold the existing dam would over time be replaced and generating capacity increased from 5MW to 42MW.

In Marlborough the Wairau River flow would be diverted into the existing branch scheme and the water conveyed through interconnecting canals and penstocks to five new power stations spaced down the Wairau Valley.

Purches said it was almost inevitable objections would lead to an Environment Court hearing.

He joined Meridian's criticism of the way in which generators in the South Island were being charged to use the high voltage interisland line. The power could be used locally, given South Island demand, but TrustPower was being charged to send it north, he said.

Trustpower last week announced a 7 per cent rise in September half-year profit to $63.1 million.

Trustpower's SI plans

* Kaiwera Downs near Gore: Windfarm, 240MW.

* Mahinerangi, west of Dunedin: Windfarm, 200MW.

* Arnold River, West Coast: remodelled hydro, 42MW.

* Wairau Valley, Marlborough: remodelled hydro, 73MW.

Holy hell there are windfarms everywhere being proposed now! Is the proposed emissions trading scheme starting to scare the power producers into renewables?

Hope so :)

Not just proposed everywhere but consented and under construction :).

Go scar tactics.

Windfarms are just lunacy. Think of the noise pollution, andwhat if someone is decpiated by the turbines? I just can't abide that idea.

:lol::lol::lol: decapitation :lol::lol::lol: That would be 1 tall dude.

Windfarms are just lunacy. Think of the noise pollution, andwhat if someone is decpiated by the turbines? I just can't abide that idea.

What do you suggest then? Dirty coal?

Hmmmm COAL .... the new 4 letter word?


I can just see people swearing and calling someone a mother COALer! :) Me I prefer to be swinging from a star... I mean blade.

But, now serious, there still remains a need for peak load supply and other backups in case the wind stops blowing from the SSC!

Geothermal is a great baseload power generator.

Yeh but, how many resource consents are in the works for increased geothermal capacity??? And why not?

Okay I can answer some of this myself...

Contact’s steam winning at Ohaaki has resulted in generation picking up from 25MW in September to around 50MW currently, with more generation to come.

Poihipi (which now has consents allowing full output) should have additional separator capacity in place next year, allowing that station to generate consistently at full load for the first time, effectively doubling its capacity (say another 20-25MW).

Contact Energy has recently started formal consultation on the Te Mihi power station. This will eventually largely replace the old Wairakei station (and exceed its capacity due to higher efficiency).

The Te Mihi consultation announcement also included the floating of a Tauhara station concept, potentially up to 200MW.

Separately on Contact’s website, they also identify their part-interest in the Mokai field for which they have a role on the steamfield management committee, and may eventually look at a further 40MW.

Mighty River Power continues with the construction of the 90MW Kawerau station, which should be fully on stream by the end of next year. MRP has lodged a consent application with Environment Waikato for the next 100MW stage for the Rotokawa development. It is worth pointing out that their interim report for December 2006 published earlier this year spoke of a 400MW geothermal programme over a 10 year period, clearly including Kawerau, Rotokawa and Ngatamariki.

Top Energy has started drilling for the Ngawha extension, civil works are about to start and all of the Ormat equipment will be on site by the end of January 2008.

Just out of interest I did a little research into how many homes 1 MW of energy would supply. General (and out of date) rule of thumb 1MW = 1,000 homes, but in reality certain factors come into play to drastically curtail these figures.

Wind farms putting out 100MW - this is actually its max potential capacity - however in reality wind strength would average closer to 30% in most areas so that 100MW actually will provide 30MW.

A Coal burner @ 100MW isn't affected by the moods of the wind but does experience more down town for servicing etc so I'm picking 75% of max potential so that will provide 75MW.

The other big factors are what environmental/economic factors affect individual homes. Do homes in colder locals require more electricity than milder climes, or how may of these use alternatives to electrical heating. The same is true in hot climes especially those with air conditioning. Wealthier homes may be better insulated but also have bigger and hungrier appliances. Poorer homes may use a lot of electrical heating. These factors can increase or decrease peak demand.

So a high use home may consume 1,193 kWh while a lower use home consumes 618 kWh. This will increase or decrease the estimate 1MW = ?? homes.

So I'm going to put my neck out and say/advise 1MW = 500 homes for non renewable/hydro/geothermal power stations vs 1MW = 200 homes for renewable's - solar/wind/tidal/wave :).

SOURCE (http://www.utilipoint.com/issuealert/print.asp?id=1728)

Sounds about right Kane. One must also remember that an awful lot of power gets eaten up by commercial customers, so just because a power station could supply enough for all the homes in Christchurch, for example, that's still a long way off supplying all of Christchurch's power. Heck, the aluminium smelter eats what - 20% of NZ's power?

Also, we must factor in the amount of power that is LEAKED from the inefficient transmission methods.

:lol::lol::lol: decapitation :lol::lol::lol: That would be 1 tall dude.

No, I mean there is a chance of the turbines detaching and killing innocent people. What happens if school girls go on a trip to a windfarm and a turbine detaches?

Well then what would you suggest?

Nuclear my friend. Nuclear.

:) the likelihood of the blade flying off and injury someone is less likely than the engine in a late model car detaching and falling out onto the road.

Malfunctions tend to be electrical such as short circuits. Googled it and only came up with this news (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071026/NEWS/710260350/1006/NEWS)item.

Nuclear has a more jaded past. Though I for one am interested in the possibility of several 500 MW near Auckland for local supply.

Just out of interest I did a little research into how many homes 1 MW of energy would supply. General (and out of date) rule of thumb 1MW = 1,000 homes, but in reality certain factors come into play to drastically curtail these figures.

Wind farms putting out 100MW - this is actually its max potential capacity - however in reality wind strength would average closer to 30% in most areas so that 100MW actually will provide 30MW.

A Coal burner @ 100MW isn't affected by the moods of the wind but does experience more down town for servicing etc so I'm picking 75% of max potential so that will provide 75MW.

The other big factors are what environmental/economic factors affect individual homes. Do homes in colder locals require more electricity than milder climes, or how may of these use alternatives to electrical heating. The same is true in hot climes especially those with air conditioning. Wealthier homes may be better insulated but also have bigger and hungrier appliances. Poorer homes may use a lot of electrical heating. These factors can increase or decrease peak demand.

So a high use home may consume 1,193 kWh while a lower use home consumes 618 kWh. This will increase or decrease the estimate 1MW = ?? homes.

So I'm going to put my neck out and say/advise 1MW = 500 homes for non renewable/hydro/geothermal power stations vs 1MW = 200 homes for renewable's - solar/wind/tidal/wave :).

SOURCE (http://www.utilipoint.com/issuealert/print.asp?id=1728)
1kW demand per home averaged out over the year may be about right (I think we used to use 2kW) but that isn't how the power is used. The system must be able to supply the peaks (or shed load) or it will collapse. These peak loads could well be close to 10kW per house (certainly would be at my place on a cold winter night). Also these days the system is having to provide power with a poor power factor due to the nature of the loads (all the switch mode power supplies and motor driven heat pumps) meaning that a lot more apparent power (VA) must be supplied. We will still need some standby coal stations or some pumped water storage facilites (pump the water up hill to a reservoir during low demand and run it down through your alternators at peak load times).

:) the likelihood of the blade flying off and injury someone is less likely than the engine in a late model car detaching and falling out onto the road.

Malfunctions tend to be electrical such as short circuits. Googled it and only came up with this news (http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071026/NEWS/710260350/1006/NEWS)item.

Nuclear has a more jaded past. Though I for one am interested in the possibility of several 500 MW near Auckland for local supply.

I've seen two total failures of wind turbines over the last 20 or so years and both were mechanical - they both collapsed.

I've seen two total failures of wind turbines over the last 20 or so years and both were mechanical - they both collapsed.

See? THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! Those wind turbines could have easily collapsed on a school, an orphange, or heaven forbid - a chuch. This is why wind power is too dangerous! I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney that go within 10 miles of a wind turbine!

See? THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! Those wind turbines could have easily collapsed on a school, an orphange, or heaven forbid - a chuch. This is why wind power is too dangerous! I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney that go within 10 miles of a wind turbine!
:lol: They were both development ones and were experiencing some teething problems in NZs windy conditions. Nothing like telling only part of the story to spice things up a bit though.

See? THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT PEOPLE! Those wind turbines could have easily collapsed on a school, an orphange, or heaven forbid - a chuch. This is why wind power is too dangerous! I'd rather go hunting with Dick Cheney that go within 10 miles of a wind turbine!

:lol:

Nuclear my friend. Nuclear.
You're worried about the safety of wind turbines and you suggest nuclear. :lol:

Hilarious....

Hmmmm... troll me thinks.

$600m power lines upgrade planned

NZ Herald
2007/11/09 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10474946)

State-owned enterprise Transpower is set to release plans for a $600 million line upgrade.

The upgrade is designed to bolster the main transmission line between Benmore and Wellington and meet demands created by new electricity generation in the South Island.

Details of the plan will be released at the end of the month.

At the same time, Transpower is keeping a close watch on the demands, and possible constraints, on local transmission lines within Otago and Southland if the Project Hayes and Mahinerangi wind farms are built.

Transpower's general manager of grid investment Tim George yesterday outlined how it planned to cope with Project Hayes, Mahinerangi and other renewable electricity generation projects being planned in the South Island.

This follows arguments between South Island generators over Transpower's ability to transmit the extra electricity.

There are two issues - Transpower's "local transmission" within Otago and Southland, and the high voltage direct current (HVDC) link which delivers electricity from Benmore to Wellington through the Cook Strait cable.

Mr George said once a decision was made to upgrade the link, there would be more certainty for South Island generation companies and they were "more likely" to invest in new generation. At the end of the month, the options for upgrading the link and a preferred choice would be released for public comment by February 1.

Those options ranged from leaving the HVDC link as it was through to upgrading it to 1700MW.

At this stage, the preferred option - costing between $500 million and $600 million - is upgrading the lines' capacity to 1400MW. Only 1200MW would be delivered to Wellington without a new Cook Strait cable.

Mr George said there were options to obtain "a bit more capacity" on local transmission lines.

Those options were "not on the books at the moment" but, when Project Hayes and the Mahinerangi projects became firmer, Transpower would look seriously at upgrading those lines.

Transpower recovered costs of such upgrades through the Transmission Pricing Methodology, set by the Electricity Commission.

Mr George said the costs associated with the HVDC link were recovered from designated South Island generators who used it. He accepted that cost was eventually passed on to consumers through what they paid for their electricity.

The costs associated with local transmission lines were recovered from the distribution lines companies which passed them on to consumers through lines charges.

Minister of Energy David Parker would not comment on the issues involved which, he said, were up to the industry to resolve.

Appeals to the Environment Court on the Central Otago District Council's granting of resource consent to Meridian's Project Hayes wind farm close with the court on November 20. As of yesterday, no appeals had been received.

Just heard on the news this morning that the Discoverer 2, a 2000-tonne 37 crewed seismic vessel survey vessel, commissioned by the OMV consortium, has departed Southport on it's survey mission to begin mapping the Great Southern Basins Oil deposits :)

Contact to build new geothermal plant

Contact Energy has confirmed its plans to develop a 20MW geothermal generation in Taupo.

Chief executive David Baldwin said the $75m "binary" plant was already covered by resource consents held by Contact, and would hopefully be operational in 2009.

"This project will take geothermal steam from the Tauhara steamfield and produce enough renewable electricity to power nearly 20,000 homes," Mr Baldwin said.

It was the first stage of Contact's proposed development of the Tauhara geothermal system, which would include a new power station of up to 225MW by 2012. Resource consents would be applied for next year.

Mr Baldwin added that Contact had filed resource consent applications for its proposed 220MW Te Mihi geothermal power station at the end of July.

He told a geothermal workshop today that geothermal electricity was critical to meeting the Government's goal of 90 per cent of electricity coming from renewable sources by 2025, so the speed at which consents were processed was critical.

Good to see some more geothermal. These plants are critical in replacing coal, as effectively they do the same thing (without the CO2 emissions).

^^ Agreed. I like the use of alternative energy. Where this country falls down on general carbon emissions, it really picks up the ball and runs with it when it comes to energy projects, good on you New Zealand.

^^ A shame we can't take a few simple steps to stamp down hard on vehicular emissions. When one considers the number of people they kill each year... more than the road toll!

Big tick for wind as power of the future

NZ Herald
2007/11/26 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/category/story.cfm?c_id=37&objectid=10478280)

Electricity generators are embarking on a green Think Big solution to looming power supply shortages.

Fuel supply for most of the rest of this decade is secure but there are concerns beyond then when existing power stations may not have access to fuel.

Sparked by the Government's green push, the pace for alternative, sustainable fuel sources is picking up.

The Government's energy strategy says state-owned electricity generators should not build more fossil fuel-burning power stations. It is considering extending the ban to private sector generators as well.

With new hydro opportunities all but gone, generators are looking underground at geothermal energy and, most significantly, at wind to meet shortages next decade.

A dozen wind power projects generating close to 2700MW at full capacity are on the drawing board or have planning approval. The first of the big ones is not due for completion until early next decade, if it is not held up by objectors concerned about the visual impact and noise pollution.

New geothermal projects or major modifications to existing plants will generate more than 600MW. The Clyde Dam, one of the centrepieces of the late 1970s and early 1980s Think Big energy projects, generates 432MW.

But just as there are high costs and climate constraints with hydro power, so there are with wind.

The worldwide shortage of wind turbines is driving up price and generators are looking outside traditional suppliers in Denmark and Germany to other manufacturers in China and India.

Contact Energy plans to build the country's biggest wind farm near Port Waikato but its budget has a wide variable of between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. Infratil, which has a majority stake in TrustPower, has analysed the cost of windpower and found that in the past two years the sharp rise in the demand for turbines and increases in commodities such as copper, steel and cement, have led to a 15 per cent rise. Once turbine supply catches up with demand, costs should revert to 2004 levels.

The other problem lies with the vital component - wind. Although New Zealand's location in the Roaring Forties gives the country a natural advantage, wind does not blow steadily at all times, and wind farms usually run well short of full capacity.

New Zealand's biggest wind farm, TrustPower's Tararua project, has averaged slightly more than New Zealand's average of 45 per cent of full capacity - that is, what a wind farm would deliver if the wind blew all day every day at the right speed.

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority figures show an average wind turbine in New Zealand will produce electricity equivalent to it operating for 4000 hours at maximum output a year. In Wales, Scotland or Western Ireland the figure is typically around 3000 hours, or in Germany, only around 2000 hours.

Three big wind projects are planned for Otago and this is forcing national grid operator Transpower to focus even harder on plans for a $600 million plus line upgrade to get power north.

The upgrade is designed to boost the main transmission line between Benmore and Wellington and details of the plan will be released at the end of the month.

PICKING UP SPEED

* At the end of last year wind turbines generated 170.8MW - enough to power the requirements of around 77,000 typical households.

* More than 151MW of new capacity has been installed this year, nearly doubling the total capacity to 321MW.

Projected energy supply

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/cpst_davis/Power.jpg

Some interesting facts;

Proposed peak capacity North Island:

Gas 860MW
Geothermal 562MW
Hydrothermal 0
Tidal 200MW
Wind 1661MW

Total 3283MW

Proposed peak capacity South Island:
Gas 0
Geothermal 0
Hydrothermal 149MW
Tidal 0
Wind 1095MW


Total 1244MW

Do note that in NZ the average peak generation from wind is about 45% of the time

The only ugly part of these forthcoming projects is the GAS option, but I suppose a necessary evil.

Puketiro Wind Farm

Capacity: 150MW (50 3MW turbines)

For more info see the Puketiro Wind Farm thread in the Wellington Forum: www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=552131

Ok this is scary.

I was perusing the Sydney Morning Herald this morning and came upon an article re the recent election. The Rudd government has as one of it's goal to make Australian energy supplies 20% renewable by 2020!

My God our - New Zealand's - are around 70% renewable ALREADY!, with a 95% target of 2025!

Yes I know, this also got me thinking semantics. Is this "energy" target referring to all energy uses - electricity/heating/cooling/transportation - or as is prevalent in NZ, electricity. So got some more research done.

Currently 8% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_commercialization_in_Australia) of Australian electricity is generated from renewable's.
Currently 70% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_New_Zealand) of NZ electricity is generated from renewable's.

Both, in fact all country's transportation fleets (car, truck, rail, boat) are almost all powered by non renewable's.

Further reading of the wikipedia article would appear to point to that 20-25 target to also be for electricity generation.

Currently the US is 15% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_commercialization_in_the_United_States)renewable.

Iceland is currently 99% (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_Iceland) renewable - impressive!

This is about energy production, carbon dioxide emissions (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita) belong in another thread. :)

As a further aside, I did a quick calculation of Aus and NZ percentage of electrified rail - Australia 13%, New Zealand 7%.

Imagine if NZ could boost production and export electricity via cable to Australia. The costs would probably be prohibitive though.

Lol, not so great in the Netherlands (http://www.agores.org/POLICY/NAT_STRATEGY/MEMBERS/NL/default.htm)- sorry.

But no worries, the rest of the EU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_European_Union)isn't much better :) - 20% target by 2020.

^^
Oh deary me

Imagine if NZ could boost production and export electricity via cable to Australia. The costs would probably be prohibitive though.

Am imagining it. Example the Pacific DC Intertie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacific_DC_Intertie) HVDC 1,362 kilometer carries 3,100 megawatts from the Dalles, Oregon to the Sylmar Converter Station outside LA, though the current longest is in the Dem. Rep of Congo at 1700km and 500MW.

HVDC - High voltage direct current is what the Cook Straight cables use.
Distance Wellington to Sydney 2226 kilometers. Yes longer, but 1. predominately submarine, 2. Pacific Intertie is 1950/60's tech.

"Depending on voltage level and construction details, losses are quoted as about 3% per 1000 km" - HVDC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVDC)

So say around 2000 km (6% loss) between the tips :).

Lol, not so great in the Netherlands (http://www.agores.org/POLICY/NAT_STRATEGY/MEMBERS/NL/default.htm)- sorry.

But no worries, the rest of the EU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_European_Union)isn't much better :) - 20% target by 2020.

How does South Africa compare ?

^^ Your a hard task master Enigma - bit more work involved finding anything, but...

Electricity (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Africa#Environment)- production by source (and I believe from 2001):

* fossil fuel: 93.5%
* hydroelectric: 1.1%
* nuclear: 5.5%
* other: 0% (2001)

Thanks Kane :) those figures are quite shocking ;)

Only when compared to NZ, Iceland and Scandinavia. But on a par with Aus and way better than the middle east :).

I think we can be pretty proud of our renewables, but then again we're in a country that's quite blessed for renewable energy resources, so there's no reason why we shouldn't be doing so well.

Apparently in the last 5 years there's been a significant reduction in the percentage of NZ power from renewables, with Huntly and various Gas plants taking up the slack. Hopefully the myriad of wind farms being planned/built at the moment will help reverse that trend.

From Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200712031316/resource_consent_granted_for_new_geothermal_power_station):

Resource consent has been given for a new geothermal power station near Taupo.

The new station will produce 130MW of energy and will be built on the same site as the Rotokawa geothermal station.

The existing station produces 33MW.

The new geothermal station is owned by a joint venture of Mighty River Power and the Tauhara North number two trust. It will be named Nga Awa Purua.

Lol, not so great in the Netherlands (http://www.agores.org/POLICY/NAT_STRATEGY/MEMBERS/NL/default.htm)- sorry.

But no worries, the rest of the EU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renewable_energy_in_the_European_Union)isn't much better :) - 20% target by 2020.

And yet the UK and Germany are going to meet their Kyoto targets whereas New Zealand couldn't meet them despite the fact that most of the energy produced by NZ is renewable.

New Zealand renewables are indeed something to be proud of the abudance of geothermal and hydroelectric power here is really quite stunning! But you guys really shouldn't lord it over the rest of the world and wave it in their face too much as personal per-capita emissions are still huge and things like the level of recycling are pitiful in comparison to the EU.

New Zealand doesn't even have any real heavy industry so what is the excuse for not being able to meet Kyoto guidelines?

Also: just realised that they're not classing nuclear as renewable. Nuclear constitutes most of Frances electricity and a good portion of the electricity across the continent. Nothing wrong with using nuclear power - at least it has no carbon emissions.

Diagram of Green House Gas emissions per capita including land change:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:GHG_per_capita_2000.svg

List of countries by Green House Gas emissions:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions_per_capita

Funny, NZ actually seems to do worse than South Africa.

It's called 5+ million cows and 44 million sheep, flatulating as one and pumping out all that lovely methane!

^^ I know they play a large role, but the EU has a huge amount of farming too - Britain and Germany included (you can see it all from above on google earth) so it can't account for the total issue. Nearly all of our meat in Britain was local except for the obvious imports of Kiwi lamb. ;)

Plus did you know that their burping is almost as bad as their flatulence?

There was an interesting mockumentry (I can't really credit it with being a documentry as it was so emotionally biassed that it was nonsense) on the quality of Aucklands air on today - did anyone see it?

Vehicle emissions per capita would have a large role to play I think.

From Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200712041200/10_year_ban_proposed_on_new_fossil-fuelled_power_stations):

10 year ban proposed on new fossil-fuelled power stations

The Government intends putting a 10-year ban on the building of new fossil-fuelled thermal power stations, unless they're required to ensure the security of New Zealand's electricity supply.

The restriction on fossil-fuelled thermal generation is included in a new bill tabled in Parliament on Tuesday.

Radio New Zealand's political editor says the Government has already instructed State-owned generators that all new baseload generation should be renewable.

To ensure a level playing field, it's put the restriction into the Climate Change (Emissions Trading and Renewable Preference) Bill so that private generators must also use renewable energy sources, rather than burning fossil fuels to generate electricity.

Exemptions to the rule will be possible in some circumstances - particularly if there's a threat to the country's security of supply.

As well, the bill establishes an emissions trading scheme which the Government says provides incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

^^^ Mmmmmm - interesting, thanks Kegan .

There was an interesting opinion article from the head of PEPANZ (Petroleum Exploration ...etc.) spitting tacks about this plan. Protecting their interests of course.

Interesting and maybe pointless piece of information I came across today - New Zealand Aluminium Smelters (NZAS) Tiwai Point Aluminium smelter consumes 13% (http://www.nzbcsd.org.nz/story.asp?id=721) of New Zealand's electricity capacity! Interesting agh! (2006 figure)

^^ And it's owned by overseas companies (so the profits disappear offshore). And the power is at a huge discount.

All this for a couple of hundred jobs....

Kane or Jarbury is this smelter a legacy of Robert Muldoons Think Big projects ? Either of you know ?

Kane or Jarbury is this smelter a legacy of Robert Muldoons Think Big projects ? Either of you know ?

I should be old enough to remember off hand, but just couldn't so had to google it.

The answer is a big NO and a little yes.

The smelter pre dates Muldoon but he did initiate the " third reduction line at the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter." - under the think big scheme.

Tiwai open in 1971 under the Keith Holyoake [National]. I was probably still potty training :)

Hehe thanks Kane.

Received this afternoon, from the ARC a letter re applicant Crest Energy Ltd - the Kaipara Harbour Marine Turbine project.

Simply it was a resource consent application WITHDRAWAL.

"A revision of the proposal by the applicant brings the entire project under the jurisdiction of the Northland Regional Council and Kaipara District Council"

^^ So it's still possibly going ahead, it's just shifted a little northwards? I guess the mouth of the Kaipara Harbour must be the boundary between the Auckland Region and the Northland Region.

Yeh, possibly the compliance rig ma role just got a little too much :).

A little more detail [graphical] re their revised resource consent application

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/cpst_davis/revised.jpg

P.S. the outcome of the consent is due late 2007 or early 2008.

Gas-fired Genesis plant at Rodney 'may yet be built'
5:00AM Wednesday December 12, 2007


The Court of Appeal says a controversial gas-fired power plant north of Auckland, on the edge of the Kaipara Harbour at Rodney, may yet go ahead.

"We have been told that the application remains alive and is being processed," the court said yesterday in a judgment overturning a High Court ruling that climate change and greenhouse gas emissions could be a consideration in consents under the Resource Management Act.

"In considering the application by Genesis Power for a discharge permit into the air of greenhouse gases associated with the proposed Rodney power station, the Auckland Regional Council must not have regard to the effects of that discharge on climate change," the Appeal Court ruled.

Energy Minister David Parker claimed in October that state-owned generators - including Genesis - have been told not to proceed with any plans to add thermal power generators to their baseload ability.

And after Prime Minister Helen Clark said she wanted the sector to focus on renewable energy unless new coal- and gas-fired stations were needed to ensure security of supply, Mr Parker said the strategy spelt the end of the road for the Rodney plant.

Finance Minister Michael Cullen also questioned how Genesis' gas-fired plant at Rodney would get the go-ahead under the new energy strategy "unless there was an absolutely clear offset against higher emitting thermal capacity elsewhere".

The Appeal Court said environmental lobby group Greenpeace "points to the conflict between unequivocal assertions made by Cabinet ministers to the effect that the Rodney project is off, and Genesis Power's position that it is not necessarily off".

It said the Government's policy - and legislation introduced last week for a 10-year ban on new fossil-fuel power stations - does "not exclude the reasonable possibility that the application will proceed".

The court noted the "opaque nature of the material supplied by Genesis Power" left it to assume no decision had been made on canning the project.

They noted eventual construction of the power station might be more than 10 years away, and so not in conflict with government policy, or it could be built sooner as a peak-load generator, and still not conflict with the Government's ban on new fossil-fuel generation.

Greenpeace won the original High Court ruling that climate change could be considered in RMA consents for such projects.

Greenpeace climate campaigner Susannah Bailey said the appeal court ruling has removed a crucial legal control on polluters' greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand.


"Greenpeace is currently reviewing whether to appeal the ruling at the Supreme Court," she said.

She called on the Government to support the Green Party's bill to amend the RMA, and implement a national policy statement to promote renewable energy and a shift away from fossil fuels.

- NZPA
How can the Court of Appeal state that Climate Change is NOT an environmental effect???? A bit embarrassing really, that our 2nd highest court is basically denying Climate Change.

GWB would love em!

Government to bypass consent process for power projects
Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200712210026/government_to_bypass_consent_process_for_power_projects)
Posted at 12:26am on 21 Dec 2007

The Government is planning to exercise a rarely-used provision of the Resource Management Act to bypass the usual consent process for two renewable energy projects.

Contact Energy is seeking consents for a new geothermal station near Taupo, while Unison wants to build a 34-turbine wind farm at Te Waka near the Napier-Taupo road in Hawke's Bay.

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard says the proposals are of national significance. The Government has a target of having 90% of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2025.

Under the RMA, the minister can direct such projects straight to the Environment Court or a Board of Inquiry, instead of the decision being made by the relevant local bodies.

Mr Mallard says he will issue his direction in January after the normal holiday period.

He says he intends to appoint a Board of Inquiry to look at the geothermal station, while the Te Waka windfarm proposal will go to the Environment Court which has already considered previous Te Waka proposals.

Mr Mallard says residents will still get to have their say on the energy developments and the projects will be considered in line with the relevant district and regional plans.

Very wise. Good move.

sooner the better

Definitely good to see renewables fast-tracked. Hopefully some care has been taken to ensure there aren't particularly nasty adverse effects.

Can someone give me a rundown on Rob Muldoon's "Think Big" project. Does it have any relevance today.:cheers:

I believe we may have finally paid the bill all off now.

Lets see - without wikipedia - natural gas conversion to petrol plant down Taranaki - moth balled I think.

Upgraded Marsden pt to Marsden B - moth balled.

Glenbrook steel mill upgraded.

Clyde dam.

There's more here (http://www.techhistory.co.nz/ThinkBig/ThinkBig.htm) and at wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_Big#List_of_projects)plus current status.

^^
The 1960's and 70's saw some massive hydro work in the South Island. The Manupuri, Pukaki, Waitaki schemes were massive. I remember all the new canals and dams in the central South Island doing up.

Wind: New Zealand's Energy (from the December Planning Quarterly).

BY FRASER CLARK, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, NEW ZEALAND WIND ENERGY ASSOCIATION

http://www.angelfire.com/tv/jarbury/pqwind.pdf

Interesting article, sorry about the poor quality of the scan in places.

New landfill-gas generation project for Wellington
Tuesday, 5 February 2008, 1:51 pm
Press Release: Todd Energy (via Scoop (http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/AK0802/S00056.htm))

New landfill-gas generation project for Wellington

In a new energy project announced today, greenhouse gas from Wellington's Southern Landfill is set to be harnessed for electricity production.

Todd Energy's managing director, Richard Tweedie, advised the project was designed to utilise methane gas produced at the Wellington City Council landfill to fuel an onsite thermal generation plant.

Mr Tweedie advised the site preparation was well advanced and a 1MW gas-fired generator would be delivered on Thursday 7 February. The plant is scheduled to be fully operational and delivering electricity into the local network by the end of March.

"This landfill has been in use for over 30 years and is now producing a large amount of landfill gas every year - including methane," said Mr Tweedie. "Methane is a significant greenhouse pollutant and harnessing it to produce electricity makes good sense from both an economic and environmental viewpoint."

He said to design a viable, long term solution to the problem of managing greenhouse gas produced at the landfill, the project had involved the generation expertise of Todd Energy subsidiary Bay of Plenty Energy teamed up with the specialist gas knowledge of Nova Gas, the company's Wellington-based gas retailer and pipeline operator.

The plant is expected to generate around 8 GWh of electricity per year for the next 20 years - enough to power 1,000 households.

"The generation plant has been selected for its high efficiency and its capacity to maximise the electricity produced from the available gas", said Mr Tweedie. "Depending on future waste volumes received and the content of the waste there may be sufficient gas to enable the installation of additional generation units in years to come."

Mr Tweedie believed the idea of utilising greenhouse gases to produce electricity would appeal to the more environmentally aware consumers who were concerned about the impact their household was having on the natural environment. He advised that Nova Gas was planning to offer electricity and gas to Wellington residential customers from March 2008.

Mr Tweedie said the team was already looking at options to increase the electricity output through refinements to the gas recovery systems and was also investigating ways to increase the overall efficiency of the plant by utilising the waste heat produced as part of the generation process.

Mr Tweedie complimented the positive input of the Wellington City Council and the supporting role it had played in helping to make the project a reality.

"As the owner of the Southern Landfill, the Wellington City Council has proven itself to be an excellent partner in this project and I look forward to working with the team on further projects where the commercial, environmental and regional objectives are so well aligned."

Public feedback sought on energy proposals
Radio NZ News - Posted at 5:29pm on 08 Feb 2008

Public feedback is being sought on plans for a wind farm in the Hawke's Bay and a geothermal power station near Taupo.

The Government is using its call-in powers under the Resource Management Act because the schemes are considered to be of national significance.

Unison Networks wants to build a 34-turbine wind farm near the Te Waka Range in the Hawke's Bay.

Contact Energy is proposing a geothermal power station in an area known as Te Mihi.

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard says the schemes are relevant to New Zealand's international obligations under the Kyoto Protocol.

Mr Mallard says as part of the call-in process, an independent board of inquiry has been asked to consider the Te Mihi application, and Unison's proposal has been referred to the Environment Court.

The public has four weeks to make submissions.

Good effort by the govt to call in these projects. Getting renewable energy projects through the consenting process seems too long-winded and difficult normally so I'm glad to see actions like these being taken.

Good effort by the govt to call in these projects. Getting renewable energy projects through the consenting process seems too long-winded and difficult normally so I'm glad to see actions like these being taken.

I am all in agreement of the encouragement of more renewable energy sources but I was just wondering if this little 'back-door' clause is fair for all when private individuals/institutions have to jump through hoops to get a similar result on a smaller scale. Just a thought.

What other things justify national significance?

Transpower looks at reinstating Cook Stait cable
Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200802132126/transpower_looks_at_reinstating_cook_stait_cable) - Posted at 9:26pm on 13 Feb 2008

Transpower is to consider reinstating a Cook Strait power cable that was shut down last year, to allay fears that the power grid may not cope with peak demand this winter.

A meeting of power industry representatives was held on Wednesday to discuss concerns about impending power shortages. As well as the Cook Strait cable being decommissioned, the supply is expected to be affected by low hydro-lake levels as a result of drought conditions, the closure of the New Plymouth power station and the Huntly power station having cooling problems.

Transpower, which owns the Cook Strait cable, decommissioned it because age and safety concerns meant it could not be insured. However, Kieran Devine, Transpower's general manager of systems operations, says the company will be talking to its insurers about the issue. He says Transpower expects to announce a decision in March.

Energy Minister David Parker says the Government is working with the industry to ensure a secure supply of electricity is maintained. He says he does not expect residential electricity prices to rise.

The Major Electricity Users Group earlier said it may be prepared to make contractual agreements to reduce energy usage during peak demand times, providing members are given sufficient warning.

^^ Shit this drought is bad ..... I read that some houses in The North Shore (Auckland) are cracking because all the moisture in the soil is being lost and the ground is re-settling. We have had months of sunshine and now it is time for some rain .... rain dance everybody ...

Transpower looks at reinstating Cook Stait cable
Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200802132126/transpower_looks_at_reinstating_cook_stait_cable) - Posted at 9:26pm on 13 Feb 2008

Transpower is to consider reinstating a Cook Strait power cable that was shut down last year, to allay fears that the power grid may not cope with peak demand this winter.

A meeting of power industry representatives was held on Wednesday to discuss concerns about impending power shortages. As well as the Cook Strait cable being decommissioned, the supply is expected to be affected by low hydro-lake levels as a result of drought conditions, the closure of the New Plymouth power station and the Huntly power station having cooling problems.

Transpower, which owns the Cook Strait cable, decommissioned it because age and safety concerns meant it could not be insured. However, Kieran Devine, Transpower's general manager of systems operations, says the company will be talking to its insurers about the issue. He says Transpower expects to announce a decision in March.

Energy Minister David Parker says the Government is working with the industry to ensure a secure supply of electricity is maintained. He says he does not expect residential electricity prices to rise.

The Major Electricity Users Group earlier said it may be prepared to make contractual agreements to reduce energy usage during peak demand times, providing members are given sufficient warning.
Ummmmm.... duh??? This was obviously the necessary thing to do. Stupid it took them this long to realise it. Bite the bullet and actually make sure our key infrastructure doesn't suck for once!

^^

It's the typical kiwi "doing it on the cheap" mentality that gets the country into these sorts of problems. And too much NIMBYism when there are plans for new generation, lines upgrades, etc, etc - People magically want power but not the infrastructure that generates and supplies it - in a blackout the NIMBYs would probably be the first to complain.


Having got that out of the way, some news: there might possibly not be any blackouts this coming winter. yay!

Enough power expected this winter - but only just: Meridian
Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200802141350/enough_power_expected_this_winter_-_but_only_just_meridian) - Posted at 1:50pm on 14 Feb 2008

State owned Meridian Energy says there is enough capacity in the national electricity grid to get through this winter without any blackouts, but there's an extremely fine margin.

Chief executive Keith Turner was questioned on Thursday by members of Parliament's Commerce Committee about whether there is enough generation capacity to get through this winter.

Dr Turner said that as long as what's known as interruptible load is adopted by big companies like Comalco, there should be no blackouts.

Interruptible load is when companies voluntarily drop one of their lines from the system at very short notice, to avoid overload.

However, Dr Turner said the margin will be as fine as he's ever seen in his career.

^^

It's the typical kiwi "doing it on the cheap" mentality that gets the country into these sorts of problems. And too much NIMBYism when there are plans for new generation, lines upgrades, etc, etc - People magically want power but not the infrastructure that generates and supplies it - in a blackout the NIMBYs would probably be the first to complain.





So true. Unfortunately. So true. I dont mind when infrastructure projects are announced with a big $ amount next to it. It's when its a small half arsed kind of thing I start getting worried that its nowhere near enough.

132MW geothermal power station to go ahead
Posted at Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200803070859/2bcdf44) - 9:00am on 07 Mar 2008

State-owned electricity generator Mighty River Power says it's about to go ahead with plans to build a 132MW geothermal power station to meet growing demand.

Consents for the project to be located at Rotokawa near Taupo have been granted, but final go-ahead still depends on contracts to buy the equipment for the station.

The plant will cost $450 million and take about 2½ years to build. It will be the second power station at Rotokawa.

Mighty River Power chief executive says it will begin generating from a $300m, 90MW geothermal station at Kawerau before the end of this year.

^^ Awesome. We really need more geothermal as they're the only renewable power generation than can run at max capacity 24/7.

^^ Awesome. We really need more geothermal as they're the only renewable power generation than can run at max capacity 24/7.

Not absolutely true, Geothermal fields can be depleated due to decreased activity as is the case with a few of our fields offering decreased activity recently (over the past 50 years)

^^ If you're careful about how much you take, using geothermal for power generation should make a negligible difference to the hot-spot. If the fields are offering slightly decreased activity after 50 years of operation that's still a pretty good result by my reckoning. What I mean is that geothermal isn't dependent on it being windy, or the hydro lakes having enough rain, or it being sunny enough for solar.

^^
The 1960's and 70's saw some massive hydro work in the South Island. The Manupuri, Pukaki, Waitaki schemes were massive. I remember all the new canals and dams in the central South Island doing up.

Yes, When the Benmore dam was constructed, I think I recall reading that it was the largest earth dam in the world. Not sure if it was true or just a urban myth.

Either way, when I ran down the face of it and up again it nearly killed be it was so high :-)

Something to give metroman a warm feeling at night.

I was reading the Herald at work today and saw an article about the countries potential oil and gas wealth, in relation to a conference taking place in Auckland this week. In the article there was a bit of info on the companies doing the exploration as well. Excellent read with compelling argument that spending more money to find the stuff is like money for jam. Thought to myself just the thing to add to this thread. Anyways I went looking for it on their website though and couldn't find it posted there. Oh well.

I'm sure you get the gist.

Did find this however from the nzherald website

The Raukumara Basin off the North Island's east coast is likely to be the next area opened up to oil explorers, Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven said today.

Mr Duynhoven told the Petroleum Conference in Auckland that the Government was keen to open new areas for exploration after recent successes.

"The next cab off the rank later this year will undoubtedly be the Raukumara blocks offer," Mr Duynhoven said.

"Other block offers that we have on the near horizon are offshore Northland, offshore Taranaki, Canterbury and East Coast."

There were positive signs that oil would be found in the Raukumara basin to follow up on the recent success of the Tui oil field.

Mr Duynhoven was enthusiastic about last year's Great South Basin block's offer, saying it would generate $1.2 billion in spending on exploration over the next five years.

"It's pleasing for me to be able to say that the hunt for oil and gas in our southern oceans is now on in earnest."

Very exciting. Thanks Milan. The conference was held at Sky City on the 8 th March. There will be more info soon hopefully. I really believe that this and our untapped mineral wealth of $86 billion as well as offshore mineral deposits within our economic zone will eventually contribute far more to New Zealand's economy than any other industries. Finally this is being looked at I just wish someone had the balls to stand up to those greenies who seem intent on keeping New Zealand in the mediocer category in terms of OECD countries. Mining is New Zealand's sleeping giant. :)

More natural gas supplies than predicted - Todd Energy
Radio NZ News (http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/latest/200803111228/8bce658) - Posted at 12:28pm on 11 Mar 2008

A leading energy company says there is far more natural gas available in New Zealand than is currently believed.

It has been predicted that gas supplies will start to run low in about a decade, but Todd Energy has told a conference in Auckland there is more than 20 years supply.

Senior executive Chris Hall, says the capacity of existing fields has been underestimated.

"If you factor in the incremental reserves that will be appraised and developed from these fields over time ... we've got enough gas to supply us until about 2030."

Associate Energy Minister Harry Duynhoven says there is clearly a difference of opinion between figures from the Ministry of Economic Development and what the industry says.

He says if the claim is true it would be great news, and he wants greater disclosure of energy companies' research.

Deepwater basin's oil promise
5:00AM Tuesday March 11, 2008

New Zealand's deepwater basins could hold as much as 17 billion barrels of oil and gas, based on output from the country's biggest producing area, a government geologist said.

The nation gets most of its oil and gas from the Taranaki region. Offshore basins are 10 times the size of Taranaki with thicker sediments offering potential finds matching those of the North Sea, Chris Uruski, a geophysicist with state-owned GNS Science, said yesterday.

New Zealand lies along the Pacific and Australian tectonic plates and is crossed with faults that break up onshore oil and gas deposits and make drilling challenging. It is offering more offshore acreage for exploration to capitalise on rising oil prices and draw major oil companies to the country.

"New Zealand is really the Southern Hemisphere's analogy to the North Sea," Uruski told the New Zealand Petroleum Conference.

"The best prospect for big oil in New Zealand is in the tectonically quieter basins, and that of course means moving into deeper water."

The New Zealand Government is part-way through a $15 million programme of seismic studies of the offshore basins to identify the best prospects and encourage oil majors to the country.

Exxon Mobil Corp, OMV AG, PTT Exploration & Production and Mitsui were among international oil companies last year granted rights to explore for oil and gas in the Great South Basin off the south of the South Island.

This year the Government plans to seek bids to explore the Raukumara basin containing oil-producing rock off the east coast of the North Island.

- BLOOMBERG

Massive. This is what will attract a large portion of the 1 million Kiwis living abroad. The implications for exploration for Southland are going to add to Southland's economy quite significantly.

It might be a touch of rhetoric, I did read today that we could potentially be sitting on another North Sea. Keep up with the exploration guys. This gets me very excited.

Something that might redress our current account deficit has to be good. At a time when petrol prices are skyrocketing it's surely a good thing to get in on the act.

Something that might redress our current account deficit has to be good. At a time when petrol prices are skyrocketing it's surely a good thing to get in on the act.

Though to this I'll attach the usual caveat of "must be invested sensibly along the lines of the Norway model rather than the 'OMG SPEND NOW BUY HIGH SELL LOW'".

^^ Definitely! Judging by the way the the government has just closed up a few tax loopholes they also want to make sure all the money doesn't disappear overseas.

Amen to that brother. Im going to sound like a broken record (soon that saying will become obsolete if it hasnt already, like how many people under 25 know what a record is?) but it's imperative we keep as much of the revenue from this in our own hands.

Norways got good stable governance, rates on par with us Kiwis and the Finns so I would expect this money to be used wisely. And after my experience there, Im all for us having their standard of living. In many ways we are pretty close to the Norwegians anyway I dont mind if we take it further. Scotland also does pretty well with its oil revenue (although most Scots seem to think the money goes directly to London).

Amen to that brother. Im going to sound like a broken record (soon that saying will become obsolete if it hasnt already, like how many people under 25 know what a record is?) but it's imperative we keep as much of the revenue from this in our own hands.

Norways got good stable governance, rates on par with us Kiwis and the Finns so I would expect this money to be used wisely. And after my experience there, Im all for us having their standard of living. In many ways we are pretty close to the Norwegians anyway I dont mind if we take it further. Scotland also does pretty well with its oil revenue (although most Scots seem to think the money goes directly to London).

Which they're horribly wrong about. Scotland gets more investment than they put into the UK economy. Per every pound they put into the government in taxes they get about 20p on top of that back! Some areas of the country (namely the east midlands and Liverpool/Manchester/Blackpool area) get far less bang for their quid.

What do you mean by "rates on par with us Kiwis"? Rates of what? I ask for interests sake and for clarification only. :)

When I lived in Edinburgh in the mid-late 90's it seemed as though every second person bemoaned the 'indisputable fact' that the English were raping Scotland of all its natural resources. I found it funny at first, but it became tiresome very quickly. I think its something Scots are taught at birth, akin to Kiwis seemingly wanting to see all Australian sportspeople loose at everything really badly.

Oh and it was the Danes not the Norwegians that were on top of that table with us and the Finns. Always get them mixed up, Oslo was ruled by Copenhagen for ages anyway.

Heres the link I was 'quoting' from, although think it funny that SIN and HK are represented so highly, think something fishy about them, poor Somalia and Myanmar was down the bottom:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007

When I lived in Edinburgh in the mid-late 90's it seemed as though every second person bemoaned the 'indisputable fact' that the English were raping Scotland of all its natural resources. I found it funny at first, but it became tiresome very quickly. I think its something Scots are taught at birth, akin to Kiwis seemingly wanting to see all Australian sportspeople loose at everything really badly.

Oh and it was the Danes not the Norwegians that were on top of that table with us and the Finns. Always get them mixed up, Oslo was ruled by Copenhagen for ages anyway.

Heres the link I was 'quoting' from, although think it funny that SIN and HK are represented so highly, think something fishy about them, poor Somalia and Myanmar was down the bottom:
http://www.transparency.org/policy_research/surveys_indices/cpi/2007

Ahh, corruption and transparency, something that isn't generally very quantifiable as it's only a perception (and thus highly subjective). It's true that transparency is important in the business world and the such like but has very little bearing on any economic measures or really anything more than confidence of investors.

All good news - Definitely a must on the "hope all the money doesn't just go offshore" comment above.

Apart from direct employment and increased activity in supporting businesses, I really hope that although the mining [drilling] is being done primarily by offshore companies, that NZ gets a good cut of the pie in terms of some kind of royalty payments etc.

I don't know how the mining industries work - Does anyone know and can shed some light on it?

^^ I imagine metroman knows all the details, he's always going on about how we should expand our mining industry.

The way how I think things work is that within the EEZ (200 miles of the coast) the people of NZ are considered to be owners of whatever minerals there are. Therefore, if someone is to mine them they must pay the government a cut of the revenue they get from the mining. I'm not quite sure what the percentages are, but it's obviously enough to make many overseas governments filthy rich from it.

The Saudis have got the right idea with their oil pumping though, as they have a state-owned oil production industry.

Does anyone know if NZ Oil & Gas (NZOG) used to be state owned? They are the only NZ company along with Todd that will be able to develop oil and gas resources in this country, all the rest will be Australian, Japanese, American and so on, look at the Tui oil well, NZOG and Todd share something like 15% of the profits between them, the rest goes overseas with the NZ goverment no doubt taking some royalties.

Ooooo Id love to put in my 2cents worth regarding your post Jarbury. I dont have all mystuff at the ready though so my piece could be full of errors.

One thing I am aware of though is that its up to the government to ensure that the nation get the benefits directly from mineral exploration/wealth. Yep the bulk of the profits goes to the company that puts in the effort to actually search for it (at a massive cost) they obviously deserve the major benefit. It happens to be that in our case it will be offshore companies.

The government has to make sure we get indirect benefit, through taxing the company etc------ but they cant be seen as being 'too greedy' as to scare off any potential exploration. That said, if a company is very positive that something is there for the taking they will still jump in.

There are nearly as many examples of mismanagement of mineral revenues as there are nations mining. Everyone points to Nigeria as a classic example of where the government seems to directly siphon off their personal share of moneys earned at the expense of the entire nation. My reason for quoting the table earlier is to show that we would be the last country on earth to do such a thing. We are very transparent and there would be no disputing that here (maybe on Radio Live? :lol:)

Anyway Im getting off track. But yes you can be certain that the average Australian will benefit from potential NZ mineral wealth just as much as the average Kiwi just for the fact they will be investing the upfront $$$ to locate the stuff. Maybe we will get to a point where we have the infrastructure and deep pockets for some Kiwi companies to purchase the license to do exploration. But Im getting a bit too far ahead of things just now, we have to locate the stuff yet.

I'm not saying we should necessarily copy the Saudis. After all who'd want 26,000 princes to support? What I was saying is that we should make sure the royalties are decent enough to make sure everyone can benefit off any minerals boom we have.

Part of me thinks that if in on our soil or in our territorial waters that we should be getting full payday from it. Just as middle eastern nations tend to do (on the whole) and just as Chavez is trying to ensure in Venezuela.

That's very left wing of you Milan! Agree with you though.

Yes. I surprised even myself with that comment. Im not a complete right wing nutter you know! :nuts:

Exploration activities funded through to q1 2009 - Glass Earth
NZPA | Wednesday, 19 March 2008

KEVIN STENT/Sunday Star-Times

Gold exploration company Glass Earth Gold says it is budgeted to be fully funded for operating and exploration activities through the first quarter of 2009.


The company, which has a total exploration area covering 27,000sq km in this country, said it raised $C5 million ($NZ6.2 million) by issuing shares and warrants by private placement in December and January.

Glass Earth has its main operational office in Wellington, with field offices in Rotorua and Dunedin, and a corporate office in Toronto. It is listed in Canada and on the alternative NZAX exchange in this country.

For the year to the end of December $C7m was spent on exploration, with $C2.1m of that coming from other parties, Glass Earth said today.

The net loss for the year was $C2.69m. That included a write-down of accumulated exploration expenditures of $C619,000 and a deferred tax allowance of $C810,000.

It was expected further placements to raise capital would be needed late this year into early next year.

As was usual for an exploration company, it had a history of successive capital raisings, Glass Earth said.

While its medium term aim was to develop into a significant gold producer, it also saw earlier opportunities to create and capture value purely through successful exploration.

The worldwide exploration industry had been severely diminished by acquisition and merger, dramatically reducing the commitment to greenfields exploration.

It was intended to exploit a potential valuable gap by generating and managing the early stages of resource identification and development of world-class gold deposits, the company said.

With its exploration activities, its pipeline of prospects at different stages of development offered a well-balanced portfolio of quality exploration prospects.

The endorsement of its approach came from joint ventures with Newmont Mining Corporation on Glass Earth's Waihi West exploration permit alongside the Martha Mine and in the surrounding Hauraki area.

Last year Glass Earth carried out an airborne geophysical survey over 13,000sqkm of prospective gold bearing terrain, covering the historic alluvial Otago goldfields.

An extensive evaluation on the ground of the Otago permit areas started in November, the company said.

Its portfolio also included advanced and greenfield gold prospects at Mamaku, between Rotorua and Tauranga, and greenfield gold prospects in the central volcanic area.

Glass Earth shares closed at 24c yesterday, having ranged between 17.5c and 25c in the past year.

Ahhhh... the yellow writing is killing my eyes....

Uhhh... cool :)

Agreed very blury on the eyes. Oil and natural gas is one area of the mining industry which is possibly less devisive to New Zealand, although keeping profits in New Zealand is a major issue. New Zealand's $86 billion worth of untapped minerals is another area on top of oil and gas. It is a topic which seems to be sidestepped by the pollies. Northland is an area which is obviously earmarked to be a significant mineral producer, Southland and Otago still have fairly significant coal deposits. The West Coast also holds sigificant potential as:)well as other areas. Look at our early history how was the West Coast initially built and founded and how much was known about what existed under the ground compared to today? As I have said before this is a major issue which won't go away, if New Zealand is to become a rich country it must at the very least explore its mining potential. This one of the reasons why New Zealand is a country to definetly watch. Our boom will come. Just look at the history books and study how mining figured in our early history.

This is for NZ Energy Projects - not mining.

Does metroman EVER talk about anything except mining?

So what is the price of gold an ounce now anyway? Reached new highs hasn't it? Is it $100 or $1000 USD now-bit of a difference between those two amounts I know.

A fairly stable commodity in times of uncertainty.

Arriving at the $1000 mark very shortly. My bullion investment couldn't have been done at a better time! :D

Well done there Mr Finance guy. Will you sell or hold for a while? :) I like to dabble in currencies, I recommend buying some greenbacks now for a long term investment too. Give it about 18-24 months you are guaranteed to make a 25-30% profit.*

Disclaimer, this is not guaranteed.

So where is the minerals thread then. Do we need to start one up.

I will see if gold passes the $1000 mark and then will decide what to do next :lol:. I could sell but then again, do I want to treat it as a seriously long-term investment independent of minor market swings? Questions. Questions.

Concerning a new thread, that would be a great idea. It seems a lot is happnening in that field and documenting such would be great without clogging this current, inappropriate thread.

Not a bad idea. As more news becomes available and the issues hots up it would probably be a good time to start a new one. High speed internet could cost New Zealand anything from $5-$10 billion. This is something which may help curb the exodus. This will be a major issue in the next election.

Not a bad idea. As more news becomes available and the issues hots up it would probably be a good time to start a new one. High speed internet could cost New Zealand anything from $5-$10 billion. This is something which may help curb the exodus. This will be a major issue in the next election.

What in the name of the 9 hells?! Mods please create a thread and move these discussions there...

There is no "exodus" as people are still moving to NZ and the population is clearly still growing. Broadband is being progressively upgraded to ADSL2 here so it won't be long before we see improvements there and from the amount you talk about it mining is already a hot topic so the thread would be a good one to have now.

Just a pity NZ doesn't have enough mining companies with enough capital to do the exploring ourselves.

That way we can have the cake AND eat it since NZ will gain through royalty payments to the governmentt, and the company which is based in NZ will also gain (which of course means a flow on effect for others)

I just hope that our government does some good research before selling off cheaply to the foreign oil barons.

Southland/ Otago looks odds on to become the new energy/ mining hub of NZ, there is so much potential in oil, gas, coal, gold, silica, lime, lignite check this site http://oilgasmineralsnz.com/

Thanks King Kong 1, come and visit the our new thread that is the kind of constructive input we are after.

I mean the new mining thread. Another subject which holds a promising future for New Zealand is bio fuel, while I just skimmed over the article it sounds like a very promising venture which will take advantage of some of our less fertile land. It may cost $2-3 billion per year to replant trees over the next 2 decades but New Zealand is well placed in this area to really capitalise. You may need to ellaborate on the details of this as I only got a rough idea of the article.

New Zealand has the ability to support its own biofuel industry and to become a world leader.

New Zealand has the ability to support its own biofuel industry and to become a world leader.

Biofuel is a myth and a fallacy that will never take off. As I often quote biofuels only lead to an increase in comodity prices (mainly foodstuffs) due to the reappropriation of land required to grow ethanol crops or biodiesel crops.

If every section of the American farming industry suddenly switched over to biodiesel and bioethanol only 13% of petroleum and 6% of diesel demand would be produced. Not only that but the net-energy gains in bioethanol are incredibly low and rarely show as positive in numerous studies. The only one which shows a decent margin of return is biodiesel from soybeans and yet this is still an inefficient process.

No, biofuels are only an augmentation and a stop gap before we can rely on a fuel source that doesn't require an internal combustion engine.

Bio fuel can be made from wood. We have plenty of land which is no good for growing vegetables, like steep hillsides, but great for pine trees. Generate wood gas from the wood, then convert it to liquid form.
From wikipedia:
The Fischer Tropsch process is used to produce synfuels from gasified biomass. While biodiesel and bio-ethanol production so far only use parts of a plant, i.e. oil, sugar, starch or cellulose, BTL production uses the whole plant which is gasified by gasification. The result is that for BTL, less land area is required per unit of energy produced compared with biodiesel or bio-ethanol.

What's the point of biofuel when we have hydrogen - a clean fuel which doesn't waste other valuable resources in its production

The problem with Hydrogen, at the moment, is that 96% of the extraction is from Hyrocarbons, predominately natural gas and oil then coal - hydrocracking. Breaking the CO from the H is somewhat easier than separating the O from H2!

Electrolysis currently only accounts for 4% of the methods to process, and this in turn has the problem that most of the worlds electricity is derived from fossil fuels.

Yes wind generation has been looked at ...To set up the Hydrogen economy in the US the Department of Energy looked "At 7 meters per second average wind speed, it would require 1 million 2 MW wind turbines, which would cost $3 trillion dollars, or about $3.00 per Gallons of Gasoline Equivalent." - The Truth About Hydrogen (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4199381.html?page=1) (2006).

Bio fuel can be made from wood. We have plenty of land which is no good for growing vegetables, like steep hillsides, but great for pine trees. Generate wood gas from the wood, then convert it to liquid form.
From wikipedia:

Even so the net energy benefit of converting the wood to wood gas is incredibly low. I'll happily type out a table of information showing the net energy benefit for many different substances that can be converted into different petrochemicals - but I'm lazy so I'll only do it on request.

[QUOTE=Kane007;19174289]The problem with Hydrogen, at the moment, is that 96% of the extraction is from Hyrocarbons, predominately natural gas and oil then coal - hydrocracking. Breaking the CO from the H is somewhat easier than separating the O from H2!

Electrolysis currently only accounts for 4% of the methods to process, and this in turn has the problem that most of the worlds electricity is derived from fossil fuels.

Yes wind generation has been looked at ...To set up the Hydrogen economy in the US the Department of Energy looked "At 7 meters per second average wind speed, it would require 1 million 2 MW wind turbines, which would cost $3 trillion dollars, or about $3.00 per Gallons of Gasoline Equivalent." - The Truth About Hydrogen (http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4199381.html?page=1) (2006).[/QUOTE

Only $3 trillion? Bah! :)

Just curious, is a trillion 1000 billion?

That's why I actually don't like the idea of a Hydrogen economy so much. Say we had a perfect world and Electrolyzed all our hydrogen from clean electricity production. Just say :)

So use electricity to extract hydrogen at high inefficiencies. I am more keen on storing that already generated electricity and using it directly rather than this 3rd party process. That's why I'm a keen follower of anything to do with high temperature super conducting batteries (SMES (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superconducting_magnetic_energy_storage)), transmission cables and ESPECIALLY supercapacitors (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercapacitor).

I hope and believe this technology will have the greater impact.

Just curious, is a trillion 1000 billion?

Nope, the american's actually mutilated the true mathematical concept of the number.

In fact the everyday use of a "billion" is incorrect and should have it's proper terminology applied - a "milliard" used by the other 4,000,000,000 humans who don't speak American English :). Also referred to as 1,000,000,000 or 1 thousand million or 10 to the power of 9. So logically using the convention of 10 thousand, 100 thousand and then 1 thousand thousand we get 10(6) or 1 million, and so forth.

Would the real billion please stand up, yes you there with the 1 million million or 1,000,000,000,000 or 10(12).

So using the American system they refer to this 10(12) number as their trillion. But for me the real trillion is in fact 10(18) or 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 or 1 million million million, if you like 1 million billion. Again used by the majority of the sub species Homo sapiens sapiens.

^^
Hahahaha. Very good Kane and thank you sir. I have to admit to b eing a peasant in this sense and use the American version. In Dutch I use milliard.
To answer Metroman's question, in the context of the post 3 trillion is 3000 billion

I think one billion as 1,000,000,000 is fairly well established now. Even in Britain they talk about "billionaires" - definitely nobody would be a billionaire by the other measure (in fact the USA GDP would actually just be about $13 billion.) Scientific counting goes up (and down) in thousands, so therefore I think the whole thousands, millions, billions, trillions system works well.

^^ Wrong, Europe still generally tries to use the older measures including Milliard.

^^ + almost all the rest of the non English speaking planet.

About 440 million humans - the anglos - use the 10(9) - billion - but most of the other 6,224,003,000 (http://math.berkeley.edu/~galen/popclk.html) (and counting) use the 10(12) or milliard.

But hey I'm an unusual Anglo descendant. I also use long endian date formates when dating my documentation - YYYY/MM/DD.

^^ + almost all the rest of the non English speaking planet.

About 440 million humans - the anglos - use the 10(9) - billion - but most of the other 6,224,003,000 (http://math.berkeley.edu/~galen/popclk.html) (and counting) use the 10(12) or milliard.

But hey I'm an unusual Anglo descendant. I also use long endian date formates when dating my documentation - YYYY/MM/DD.

But what about for financial use? I am sure when I was living in the UK they frequently referred to companies making X billion pounds in revenue. Surely that is the same billion used in the US?

And Kane007, you're like me with you're date numbering too. I am an IT enginner and it makes perfect sense to number dates in reverse order. In a list of files on a hard disk, the files appear in chronological order... whereas in the regular syntax they don't.

Biofuels drive running out of gas
5:00AM Friday March 28, 2008
By Paula Oliver


The Government's push is under threat, with political support no longer assured. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Growing concern about the merit of biofuels is threatening to derail a Government push to get the new fuels flowing out of petrol pumps in little more than three months.

The biofuel bill, now before a select committee, proposes to make oil companies begin selling a small but progressively higher amount of biofuels each year from July 1.

But while the bill passed its first reading comfortably, widespread political support is no longer as assured because of worries that the legislation does not deal strongly enough with questions about whether biofuels will come from sustainable sources.

Global debate about biofuels has shifted in recent months and in Britain - where the fuels are set to begin flowing on April 1 - a dispute is raging about whether biofuels will do more harm than good by leading to rainforest destruction and food shortages.

National MP Nick Smith yesterday said his party would not back the biofuel bill unless the issue was sorted out and it was made clear that the fuels coming into New Zealand would be from sustainable sources.

A delay to the bill's start date might be needed, he said.

"There just isn't the time before July 1 to draft credible criteria, and then for oil companies to be able to access fuel to meet that criteria," Dr Smith told the Herald.

"National will not support the bill unless we are satisfied that the biofuels are going to make a positive contribution to the environment."

Some of Parliament's smaller parties are also understood to be concerned but are holding back on final decisions about the legislation until it is reported back from a select committee in just over two weeks.

The Greens moved several months ago to get a reference to sustainability put into the biofuel bill.

The clause that was added contains a regulation-making power allowing the Cabinet to set environmental standards for the biofuels which are sold.

But with the launch date only three months away no clear standard is yet available.

Dr Smith said officials had advised the select committee examining the bill that the earliest the provision could come into effect was next year, and they did not expect to introduce regulations until 2011.

It was likely some of the biofuels coming into the country until then would be from unsustainable sources, Dr Smith said.

Climate Change Minister David Parker has acknowledged some submitters to the select committee want the bill to go further in its sustainability criteria.


Mr Parker has asked officials to look into including more criteria in the bill itself, and to also consider whether there should be mandatory reporting for biofuel providers of the source of their fuels.

The biofuel push is expected to increase the price of petrol for drivers, and that too is concerning some political parties.

Oil giant BP submitted to the select committee that the price of fuel would rise by between 7c and 15c a litre as a result of the added cost of biofuels.

New Zealand First deputy leader Peter Brown admitted yesterday his party was "a little bit nervous" about whether the biofuel bill was going to do what it was meant to at a reasonable cost.

"It's fair to say people have raised concerns with us," Mr Brown said.

"We've said we'll take those on board and make up our minds when the bill comes back."

Mr Brown said the concerns raised with his party ranged from the increased cost of petrol to whether the biofuels would influence the price of food.

* THE CONTROVERSY

Biofuels (made from alternative products such as beef tallow) are set to be introduced in small amounts from July 1 as part of the Government's climate change push.

But there is growing global concern that the production of some biofuels is pushing up food prices and bringing about rainforest destruction.

The legislation contains a clause about sustainability, but there is doubt that an environmental standard will be ready in time for the July 1 launch date.

Political support for the biofuel legislation is potentially shaky unless the sustainability issue is sorted out quickly.

I hope the anti bio-fuel hysteria doens't sweep away all the potential postives there are in NZ for biofuels. 5 or 10% mixes will make a big difference in time.

Gull using whey (dairy waste product I think?), and I read about a year ago about a company in Belnheim using algae from sewerage settling ponds. I did a google search and come up with an article about it in the Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/jan/09/biofuels.alternativeenergy

However, I agree biofuel from corn seems pretty stupid.

^^ It isn't hysteria. The net energy gain from biofuels is negligable at best, unless of course you're getting biodiesel from soy crops. Soy crops are the only potential source of biofuel that will give a positive net energy gain.

Biofuels are attractive to countries like the USA because it means they don't have to rely upon an unstable middle east to put gas in their SUVs. Unless you're generating it from waste products in an energy efficient manner, I can't really see how it's much better than oil.

An interesting article in today's herald on the topic:

Mike Moore: Nothing more vital than world's food
5:00AM Monday April 28, 2008
By Mike Moore

Futurists have been predicting for some years that global warming and competition for resources pose real problems in terms of political stability, even security.

A tsunami of economic migrants leaving failed states is a possibility. Migrants represent in total about the tenth largest state now. Typically they flee hardship and seek better opportunities, this is always so.

What has been the most successful 50 years of alleviating poverty in human history is threatened. What's happening, what's new?

Nothing is more important than food. In 12 months, corn and rice prices have doubled, wheat price tripled, soy beans up by 87 per cent, and global food reserves are at their lowest levels ever.

A hundred million people in the poorest countries have been pushed further into poverty. The low US dollar has pushed up food prices, exported or gifted from the US.

Governments are responding in different ways. Some countries are banning food exports, introducing clumsy, inefficient subsidies, rationing, imprisoning hoarders.

Price increases resulted in a general strike in Burkina Faso, a Prime Minister forced from office in Haiti, where people were forced to eat mud cakes, a mixture of mud, grain and vegetables. Food inflation is not just a terrible threat to the poor but to families everywhere.

In China and India, where exports held down inflation worldwide, they are now pushing up food and energy prices.

They are now exporting inflation due to the consumption habits of their growing middle class. Energy prices feed directly into food prices because of fertiliser and distribution costs.

In New Zealand, our dairy sector is booming but it costs other sections of our economy and society. Dairy products have gone up by more than half for local families. High prices are good for New Zealand _ but the implications are complex. It's called the "Dutch" disease after the impact of an "energy" boom in the Dutch economy.

This theory explains how large increases in one sector can harm other parts of the economy by raising the exchange rate, harming consumers and raising inflation.

The rush to biofuels is also impacting cruelly in agriculture, where massive subsidies and high oil prices are encouraging agricultural production away from basic foods. Tragically, rich countries are subsidising bio-fuel production, raising prices. Filling a Range Rover with subsidised ethanol takes as much "grain" as would feed an African family for a year. Rich countries' fuel substitution programmes often consume more energy to produce than they save. It's a populist Green response to global warming that does the opposite of what was intended.

The United Nations, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, the World Trade Organisation and senior finance ministers met recently in Washington, DC and pledges were made to provide US$500 million ($639.5 million) in urgent food aid by May 1, such is the crisis.

This is important short-term action. But how can you encourage poor countries to grow food when subsidies from rich countries can drop similar products into their local market, sometimes at a third of local prices?

The medium- and long-term solution is the Doha Development Trade round, which is now at a critical stage. Unless the players at the WTO can get closer in the next few weeks, the deal will not be cut this year.

Politics in the US and elsewhere make it difficult to believe the deal could be done next year. But negotiations are closer than most believe.

If the rich countries cannot find the political courage to front their subsidised farmers when food prices are so high and will remain high, when can they summon up the willpower to save themselves? Subsidies in rich countries are a direct cash transfer from the poorest consumers to the richest of producers.

People have often said a WTO deal is difficult when the world economy is pumping. Why take risks if things look good?

Now we have a global credit crunch so the global economy would receive a welcome boost if a deal was done. Of 100 economists, 99 would report everyone wins, eventually.

But politicians and hungry families live in the immediate. The next meal, pay day, or election. So, what to do?

It's urgent that food aid is directed to those who will die unless action is taken now. This must be done in a way that doesn't collapse existing local agriculture.

Then, assist local producers by micro loans, grants of seed stock and basic guaranteed prices.

Corrupt and inefficient governments harm all forms of development. We must help build afflicted nations' infrastructure: commercial, agricultural and administrative. Democracy helps this cause.

In the medium and long term, we must conclude the WTO's Doha Development trade round which will return four to five times more to Africa than all the aid and loan debt forgiveness put together.

Where farmers can operate freely with secure property rights, we can see the best results.

Carefully managed, safe GM foods offer great hope. We reject rationality and science at great risk.

Alas, protectionist instincts that sound good could turn a short-term disaster into a long-term catastrophe.

* Former Prime Minister Mike Moore was Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, 1999-2002

Electricity through wave power
5:00AM Monday April 28, 2008
By Anthony Doesburg

http://media.apn.co.nz/webcontent/image/jpg/neptune.jpg
An experimental turbine generating 1MW will be installed in Cook Strait off Island Bay next summer, costing $10 million.

A prototype of what is likely to be the first turbine for tapping the tidal energy of New Zealand waters is sailing around Scottish seas bolted to a ship.

Christchurch company Neptune Power wants to begin installing an experimental turbine in Cook Strait next summer, based on the design being tested off Scotland.

Neptune received resource consent from the Greater Wellington Regional Council this month for a trial that can last up to 10 years.

Neptune director Chris Bathurst said the company was awaiting the results of the shipboard testing before buying a turbine from the unnamed manufacturer.

So far it has been established that the turbine rotates as intended and now performance and reliability testing is under way.

"Because they wanted to measure how much power it develops at exact speeds, they've bolted it to the front of this vessel, which is much easier than measuring where you've got variable tidal flows," Bathurst said.

The turbine Neptune intends installing at a cost of $10 million 4.5km off Wellington's Island Bay will have a maximum generation capacity of 1MW - enough for about 500 homes.

That is a fraction of the 12GW of power - 1.5 times New Zealand's present generation capacity - Bathurst calculates could be extracted from Cook Strait at a cost of billions.

Bathurst, a mechanical engineer with a background in the aluminium smelting industry, is not daunted by that sum. He says he is well versed in capital raising, having been involved from the beginning in a successful US$1.3 billion smelter project in Mozambique.

"I'm quite sure we could bring in overseas money for this because people will see it as a way of attracting carbon credits."

But he wants New Zealand investors to have priority, and would like up to a third of the venture's value to be available to the public.

"We've turned various offers of investment down because first we wanted to get resource consent and know that the technology is going to work. Then we would go after the money, and we're at that stage now."

It is intended that the turbines will be made in New Zealand. The 14m-diameter machines are made of carbon fibre so yacht builders are potential manufacturing partners.

The turbine's carbon fibre construction should give it three times the generation capacity per tonne of a conventional wind turbine, Bathurst said.

"It's very light. That means when we get into mass production it will be correspondingly cheaper as well. Manufacturing costs generally are in line with the mass of the materials used."

Bathurst can see New Zealand becoming an exporter of marine energy expertise in the same way that it is a world leader in geothermal power generation.

The turbine itself might be light but it will be held in place by a concrete tank weighted with 700 tonnes of a material that is yet to be finalised.

The trial turbine will be anchored with a heavier weight than is likely to be needed for the production turbines because it is not known what forces they will have to withstand.

"After we've had it down for a period and analysed the forces, we'll be able to be more accurate about the weight needed."

The turbine will be placed in waters known as the "Karori rip", an area where the tidal current changes orientation from east-west to north-south where Wellington juts into Cook Strait.

"That speeds up the current at that point - a bit like a bend in a river," Bathurst said.

Power from the trial turbine is expected to be brought ashore at Vector's Island Bay substation.

Can definitely see tidal power becoming a huge source of power generation in the next 20-30 years. Totally predictable source of power, can run close to 24/7 at least at some capacity and has the potential for huge amounts of power to be generated.

Study shows low price of integrating wind power
5:00AM Monday April 28, 2008
By Brian Fallow



The study was headed by Professor Goran Strbac of Imperial College London and commissioned by Meridian Energy. It was not concerned with the cost of building and operating wind farms or of any additional transmission investment needed to connect them to the national grid.

Rather it examined the additional costs of integrating wind power into the system which arises from the fact that it is variable (the wind doesn't blow all the time) and unpredictable (it may be blowing now but you can't be sure it will be in an hour's time).

The study concluded that:

* By 2012, if wind was providing 5 per cent of the country's power, system integration costs would add $1.90 to $2.70 a megawatt/hour to the cost of wind. As the cost of generating from a good wind site was about $75 to $85 a megawatt/hour, that would represent an additional 2 to 4 per cent. It would represent less that a quarter of a cent per unit on a consumer's power bill.



* By 2020, with 2000MW of wind providing 12.5 per cent of the country's power, the system costs would still be in a similar range of $2.10 to $2.80/MWh.

* By 2030, with 3500MW of wind meeting 18 per cent of national demand, the system integration costs would be in the $8.60 to $11.7/MWh range.

Wind's variability meant 100MW of wind turbines on a New Zealand hilltop can displace or substitute for only 20 to 30MW of baseload combined cycle gas turbine plant, Strbac said.

That is much better than in the Britain, where it is between 10 and 20MW, or Germany where it is less than 5MW.

But it still means that the system has to have spare capacity to cope with times when wind is not available, and that comes at a cost.

In New Zealand's case, that "capacity cost" was quite low, Strbac said. Partly that was because of the quality of the wind resource - high load factors, reflecting how much of the time it blows. But it was also because of the high proportion of hydro generation in the electricity system.

The hydro power stations operate with an average load factor of around 58 per cent. That is, they generate 58 per cent of what they could if there was an unlimited supply of water and they ran flat out all the time.

The hydro lakes can act as a buffer between fluctuating supply from wind farms and fluctuating demand. Only up to a point, however. If a high percentage of generation were to come from wind - like the 18 per cent by 2030 scenario modelled - more gas-fired back-up plant would be needed and the costs would rise.

"But up to 2000MW of wind, hydro almost perfectly absorbs the fluctuation in wind. It doesn't matter if the wind doesn't blow for seven days. It is not an issue," Strbac said.

That amount of wind generation could provide one-eighth of the country's expected electricity demand in 2020.

Wind's share now is little more than 2 per cent but much of the additional generating capacity being built is wind-powered. In addition to the capacity cost, which is about variability or covering calm days, there is the cost of covering sudden and inherently unpredictable drops in wind output over a time horizon of minutes or hours.

Can definitely see tidal power becoming a huge source of power generation in the next 20-30 years. Totally predictable source of power, can run close to 24/7 at least at some capacity and has the potential for huge amounts of power to be generated.

^^ That project has just been given the go ahead! :) :)

Tidal power trial approved

TVNZ News 2008/05/02 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/index.cfm?c_id=1)

A Christchurch company has been given the go ahead to install an underwater turbine off Wellington's south coast to generate electricity from the Cook Strait tides.

Greater Wellington Council has granted consent for a trial which is the first step in developing technology that Neptune Power believes could eventually satisfy a big part of the country's energy needs.

The trial turbine, just south of Sinclair Head, should be up and running within 18 months and will power 400 Wellington houses through Vector's Wellington grid.

David Beach from Neptune Power says the aim of the trial is to run the turbine in a real situation and establish its ecological impact.

The trial could eventually make tidal power a big player in the government's plan to have 90% of New Zealand's energy coming from renewable sources by 2025.

^^ Great news. There's a huge future in tidal power I believe. Glad to hear it's not being called "wave power" anymore, as it has nothing to do with the waves.

I haven't seen the details of this one before. Another Meridian Energy project. This will annoy the Makara NIMBYs.

From the resource consent notification (http://www.wellington.govt.nz/news/publicnotices/details/mill-creek.html):

The general location of the site is between Ohariu Valley and Wellington’s west coast. The site is located 12km south of Porirua and 8km north of Wellington, and covers approximately 18km2 of pastoral land.

The proposed wind farm, known as Mill Creek, will have 31 wind turbines with a total capacity of up to 71.3 megawatts (MW).

2.3MW wind turbines of up to 110 metres in height.

Links:

Map showing proposed turbine locations (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/NR/rdonlyres/184B54F5-7E5E-4552-B48D-D05B61C153D6/23632/MillCreekMap.pdf) [PDF]
Meridian's Mill Creek webpage (http://www.meridianenergy.co.nz/OurProjects/MillCreek/default.htm)
Resource consent notification (http://www.wellington.govt.nz/news/publicnotices/details/mill-creek.html) (Wellington City Council)

Power prices hit smelter
5:30AM Monday May 05, 2008

New Zealand Aluminium Smelters is cutting production at its Tiwai Point smelter by about 5 per cent as a result of rising power prices.

Hydro lake levels at around 60 per cent of average storage, significantly lower than normal because of drought, are pushing up wholesale power prices.

The smelter's reduction of 30 megawatts of power demand corresponded to a cut in aluminium production of about 1400 tonnes a month, the company said.
Good. Now piss off somewhere else. I'm sick of subsidising an overseas company that sucks up 20% of the country's power at bargain basement prices that the consumer eventually has to cover.

^^ Im inclined to agree with you Jarbury. Although I doubt it'll ever happen. The benefit we get from these guys is minimal compared to the amount of electricity they consume. Im definately a pro big business guy but this group are like vampires. They arent a big employer anyway and Im certain the Southland economy would currently be able to absorb the lay offs.

^^ I'd agree with that one. If oil exploration and pumping takes off you may end up with large employers setting up in the area. Can't really see it happening unless they get totally hammered by the emissions trading scheme.

Amazing what a little power shortage can do. Asbestos? Before: big problem must close it down. Now: No worries, we can work around that.
Mothballed power plant cranked up
Stuff.co.nz (http://www.stuff.co.nz/4563133a10.html) | Wednesday, 28 May 2008

A mothballed New Plymouth power station will be recommissioned in response to tightening electricity supplies.

Contact Energy announced today it was cranking up one 100 megawatt gas-fired generator unit at the station. The Contact Energy plant closed in December, 2007, following the discovery of asbestos in areas not detailed in its register.

...

^^ And to quote them - "There will not be a power shortage".

That's two gaffe's now

1) Transpower saying that they won't need to use the Pole 1 cable through Cook Strait quoting "There is plenty of generating and grid capacity"

2) Trust Power saying that they won't need to fire up New Plymouth - "There is enough capacity even though the South Island is expected to be dry."

In 1992, we had what was claimed to be a 1 in 100 year event when we ran short of power.

In 2002?, we had what some called a 1 in 50 year drought resulting in a power shortage

In 2008, on the basis of 1992 and 2002's events, we must be having a 1 in 75 year draught.

Fuck me I must be getting old!

We should either:
1) Build a big coal power station starting tomorrow
2) Tell NZ Aluminium Smelters to Fuck Off

We'll then have plenty of power to go around while power companies dither around with the RMA and building Wind Farms (which arguably don't reduce the need for a baseload coal plant).

2) Tell NZ Aluminium Smelters to Fuck Off


I've always wondered how much NZ Aluminium Smelters actually contribute to NZ and whether the country as a whole would be better off with that power used elsewhere.

Be interesting to see how/whether this scales up.
Making waves work: wave energy trials underway in Wellington
NIWA press release (http://www.niwa.cri.nz/news/mr/2008/2008-06-05)
5 June 2008

http://www.niwa.cri.nz/__data/assets/image/0014/72203/WET-NZ_330.jpg
WET-NZ prototype wave energy device being lowered into the water at Evans Bay, Wellington. (Photo: Alan Blacklock, NIWA)


A uniquely ‘Kiwi’ wave energy generator is harnessing the power of waves in Evans Bay Wellington.

The device has been developed by Wave Energy Technology New Zealand (WET-NZ) – a partnership between the Crown Research Institutes Industrial Research Limited (IRL), and NIWA, and the Wellington power consultancy Power Projects Limited (PPL).

The generator in Evans Bay is an experimental prototype. At a quarter of full-size, it is the product of four years of intensive research and development, funded by the Foundation for Research, Science & Technology.

The experimental generator is capable of a peak output of only around 2 kW of electricity (enough to run two typical homes) but is allowing the project scientists and engineers to refine its design so that it can be scaled up in size. The consortium’s ultimate aim is to produce commercial devices, each capable of producing at least 100 kW, that could supplement energy supplies for large cities or meet all the energy needs of remote communities (eg, offshore islands).

Wave power is extremely complex. There is the up-and-down heave of the waves, the back-and-forth surge, and the pitch or rolling motion that surfers capture. The large hull of the device, sitting in the water rather like an iceberg, taps into components of the wave motion. A smaller “float” at the sea surface pivots off the hull in response to the changing wave height. The relative motion between the two provides the energy for a hydraulic motor that actually produces the electricity.

The wave energy generator is anchored to the seabed by a slack mooring so that it is able to react to the wave motion but will not be damaged in storms. Over the past year, project scientists trialled the prototype in the sea off Lyttelton Harbour, Christchurch. The Wellington trials are focused principally on the mooring technology as well as incremental improvements to the design.

New Zealand is ideally situated for wave energy generation: the country has a long coastline and is situated in the wind belt of the Roaring Forties. Big waves and swells roll in from a southwesterly direction, particularly in winter.

Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm approved ...

Green light for wind farm
The Southland Times | Tuesday, 10 June 2008

TrustPower was yesterday given the green light for its largest wind-farm development, east of Mataura, but opponents are already warning of an appeal.


The Gore District Council's hearing panel has approved all resource consents sought by the company from the council and Environment Southland.

New Zealand's fifth-largest power generator, TrustPower plans to spend $380 million on the wind farm. Up to 83 wind turbines would generate 240MW on the Kaiwera Downs site.

The development covers a 2568ha site, encompassing 10 farms, and is bounded to the north by State Highway 93. The turbines would be 145m high.

Concerned Neighbours of the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm spokesman Henry McFadzien said there was a sense of inevitability about TrustPower getting consent.

"I felt it was always going to happen," he said.

However, that did not mean residents would give up their opposition. Feelings were strong enough that it was likely there would be an appeal, McFadzien said.

In its 162-page decision, the hearing panel found any negative effects were localised, while there were significant economic and environmental benefits.

Turbines will dominate views within 7.5km of the site but the substantially positive effects of the wind farm outweigh negative visual effects, it says.

TrustPower community relations manager Graeme Purches said it was pleasing to get consent.

Assuming there were no appeals, it would be at least three months before anything may happen.

These people really really really piss me off. How about when the power cuts come this winter they're the first to have it shut off. Then we'll see how they feel about it.

agreed

Human nature really - those that bitch and moan about having a power plant in their backyard will always be the first to complain about having their power cut off.

I liken this to the whole cellphone tower debate with regards to lowering property prices, Electromagnetic radiation and all that blah... Those that complain the most are often ironically the once that moan of poor coverage.

The silly thing with the phone argument is that it is quite easy to solve.. In the terms and conditions when you sign up, it should have a clause that restricts the level of protest you can make when towers are proposed near your home.

You cant have the cake and eat it!

http://stuff.co.nz/images/731347.jpg
BIG JOB: Workers prepare the foundation pads that will hold in place the 62 turbines at the West Wind project on Wellington's southwest coast

PAUL EASTON - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 17 June 2008

High on the hills above Makara the concrete footprints of a huge wind farm are being punched into the ground.

Concrete has now been poured on 26 of 62 turbine foundations, scattered across the 55-square-kilometre site of Meridian Energy's West Wind project on Wellington's southwest coast.

Each of the pads is 15 metres across and 1.5 metres deep, containing 48 tonnes of reinforced steel and 370 cubic metres of concrete. The pads will hold the turbines in place as the area's formidable winds whip against them.

Those winds are expected to help the $400 million project generate 140 megawatts - enough power for 70,000 homes.

The wind farm is "right on schedule", project manager Royden Mayfield says.

A mini-village has been created as the project moves ahead, with up to 250 people on site at any one time.

It is planned to have the 111-metre-high turbines fully operational by the end of next year. Each turbine will have three 40-metre-long blades, each weighing eight tonnes.

The turbine towers are being built in South Korea, and the blades and gearing manufactured in Denmark.

The parts will be shipped to Picton before being barged to Oteranga Bay, where national electricity grid company Transpower's Cook Strait cable link comes ashore.

At the bay, work on a temporary wharf to bring the hardware ashore is advancing quickly.

"It's like a big Meccano set basically," senior civil engineer Chris Jones said.

The wharf will be 128 metres long when it is finished in July, with two "fingers" at the end, allowing barges to dock between them with turbine parts.

The parts will be stored at the bay before being taken up to the wind farm site on a specially built road.

Meridian has worked closely with Transpower to make sure there was no disruption to Cook Strait electricity or fibre-optic cables.

The West Wind project has faced strong opposition from people living near the site.

Objectors are concerned about the size and noise of the turbines, some less than a kilometre from houses.

Coal burnt for electricity soars - up go our CO2 emissions
2:10PM Tuesday June 17, 2008

The use of coal to produce electricity soared in the first three months of the year as dry weather conditions put the squeeze on hydro generation, new figures show.

That pushed CO2 equivalent emissions from electricity generation up by almost a third from a year earlier.

Renewable generation accounted for 65 per cent of electricity in the March quarter, down from 72 per cent a year earlier, the Ministry of Economic Development's New Zealand Energy Quarterly shows.

The amount of electricity generation from renewable sources was "unseasonably low", while low inflows into hydro lakes towards the end of 2007 and the beginning of 2008 resulted in significant increases in the amount of electricity generated from thermal sources.

The 3566 gigawatt hours (GWh) of thermal generation in the March quarter - 35 per cent of the total - included 1020 GWh from coal, compared to 727 GWh a year earlier and just 589 GWh in the December quarter.

Hydro generated 52 per cent of the total in the March quarter, 5275 GWh compared to 6035 GWh a year earlier.

Wind produced 260 GWh, up from 148 GWh in the March 2007 quarter but down from 294 GWh in the December quarter.

The country's diesel-fired reserve generator at Whirinaki had run at record levels during the quarter, generating 26 GWh, or 0.3 per cent of the total, according to the report which was published today.

A total of 10,130 GWh of electricity was generated in the March quarter, up 3 per cent from a year earlier.

The rise in the use of coal was the key factor in a rise of almost a third from a year earlier in this country's production of CO2 equivalent emissions from electricity generation.

During the March quarter the figure was 1845 thousand tonnes of CO2 equivalent emissions, compared to 1405 a year earlier.

Efforts to reduce emissions had received a boost in the second half of 2007 after Genesis Energy's combined cycle gas turbine at Huntly went into full operation.

That reduced the need to use coal, which produces more emissions per unit of electricity than gas does.

Meanwhile, New Zealand production of crude oil and condensate continued at near record levels during the March quarter, as a result of output from the Tui field which started production last July.

A total of 35.4 petajoules (PJ) of crude oil and condensate was produced in the March quarter, from 36.1 PJ in the previous three months.

Imports were up to 57.4PJ from 50.1PJ, while exports eased to 32.5PJ from 35.1PJ.

- NZPA

Ormat to build Taupo geothermal plant for Contact
Tuesday, 01 July 2008

Contact Energy has entered into agreements with Nevada-based geothermal power company Ormat to supply and build a 23.3 megawatt binary power station in Taupo for $60 million.


Contact said today it had already drilled the wells needed to power the station as part of a programme to appraise the Tauhara steamfield.

The total cost to deliver the project was expected to be about $100m, including works already done, Contact said.

Ormat supplied and built the Wairakei binary plant for Contact in 2004 and the new binary power station would follow a similar design.

The Tauhara binary power station would be commissioned during 2010 and represented the first stage of Contact's development of the Tauhara steamfield.

Contact is also planning to build a geothermal power station of between 200 and 240 megawatts on the Tauhara steamfield and said it expected to file resource consents for that project in the first half of 2009.

Contact shares closed at $7.99 yesterday, having ranged between $6.91 and $10.15 in the past year.

- NZPA

By EMILY WATT - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 01 July 2008

A planned third wind farm could take the number of turbines dotting Wellington's wind-swept outer hills to more than 140 - together providing enough electricity to power every home in the city when operating at full capacity.

The proposal, which has yet to receive resource consent, would place between 20 and 50 New Zealand-made turbines in Long Gully, which runs south behind the Brooklyn wind turbine in Wellington.

State-owned Mighty River Power has signed a deal with New Zealand turbine manufacturer Windflow Technology to provide turbines for the project.

Mighty River has bought a 19.95 per cent stake in Windflow Technology at a cost of more than $7 million. The company plans to generate 500 megawatts of wind power within seven years.

The wind farm would be the third on the south coast. After a decade-long battle, Meridian Energy has started building 61 turbines at Makara. It plans another 31-turbine wind farm in Ohariu Valley.

Mighty River Power said the proposal was in the very early stages, but wind development manager Trevor Nash said it would be a "relatively small" project that would produce about 10MW at full capacity.

That is enough electricity to power about 3000 homes - a small fraction of Meridian Energy's Makara project, which will generate about 140MW.

Mighty River's proposed site is regularly buffeted by high winds. The nearby Brooklyn turbine, installed in 1993 as a research project, is reportedly one of the highest-performing turbines in the world.

It is not yet known where the Long Gully turbines would be placed, or whether they would be seen or heard from homes.

The choice of Long Gully, which is largely uninhabited, could allow the project to pass more smoothly than Meridian Energy's $400 million Project West Wind in Makara, which attracted more than 4000 public submissions and took several years of negotiations. After objectors appealed to the Environment Court, it finally got the green light in May.

For Long Gully, Windflow's 0.5MW turbines are small compared with Meridian's 2MW turbines at Makara, but also cost less and use half the steel and concrete of the European-made turbines.

Long Gully Station owner Steven Watson said Mighty River had been monitoring the wind there for about four years, and he had had an agreement with the company for three years regarding building on his land.

"I just see it as a very sensible use of what is otherwise marginal farmland. It just makes so much sense."

Mr Watson said he was trying to ensure all recreational use of the land, including mountain bike tracks, would continue.

Carrick Lewis of Action for the Environment, one of the groups that opposed the Makara development in the Environment Court, said Long Gully would suffer environmental damage from turbines.

The group would study the proposal as it became available to decide whether it would oppose the plan. "We're viewing it with concern," he said.

An application for resource consent is expected to be lodged within six months.

The resource consent process, including public submissions, can take up to a year.

Full steam ahead for new Kawerau plant
5:00AM Wednesday July 02, 2008
By Grant Bradley

Mighty River Power says the commissioning and testing of its new 90MW geothermal power station at Kawerau reached a milestone when it was successfully connected and supplied power into the national transmission grid.

The state owned enterprise hopes to bring the plant on stream in August, two months ahead of schedule, to help supplement tight power supplies over winter due to low hydro lake levels.

Further generation and plant testing this week will be followed by a seven-day shutdown, when the plant will be inspected and checked.

The plant was scheduled to restart towards the end of July for a month of trials with close monitoring of performance. During this time the plant will generate electricity at full capacity and is expected to be fully operational by August.

The Kawerau power station is set on industrial newsprint maker Norske Skog Tasman's land.

Kawerau is the first stage in the company's plans to develop about 400MW of geothermal energy in the next five to 10 years, enough power for 400,000 homes.

The $300 million Kawerau project is the largest single geothermal development in New Zealand in more than 20 years and will meet around one-third of residential and industrial demand in the Eastern Bay of Plenty region.

Mighty River Power project manager for Kawerau Paul Ware said it was currently a busy time for all people working on site.

"It was particularly satisfying during the testing last week, when a small amount of energy was successfully supplied to the grid via the Kawerau substation," he said.

In another geothermal power development yesterday, Contact Energy said it had entered into agreements with Nevada-based geothermal power company Ormat to supply and build a 23.3 megawatt binary power station in Taupo for $60 million.

Contact said it had already drilled the wells needed to power the station as part of a programme to appraise the Tauhara steamfield.

The total cost to deliver the project was expected to be about $100 million, including works already done.

Ormat supplied and built the Wairakei binary plant for Contact in 2004 and the new binary power station would follow a similar design.

The Tauhara binary power station would be commissioned during 2010 and represented the first stage of Contact's development of the Tauhara steamfield.

Contact is also planning to build a geothermal power station of between 200 and 240 megawatts on the Tauhara steamfield.

Another wind farm proposal ...

New wind farm proposed in southern Hawke's Bay
National Business Review 21 July 2008 - 15:15

Contact Energy is considering spending $500 million developing a wind farm on the Puketoi Range near Dannevirke in southern Hawke's Bay.

The proposed Waitahora wind farm would be up to 177 megawatts in size and have 65 turbines, producing enough electricity to power up to 86,000 homes on land currently used for pastoral farming.

Contact had signed a land use agreement with a private land owner, chief executive David Baldwin said.

A resource consent was likely to be filed later this year.

"This is an important project for New Zealand in that it is located in the North Island, closer to electricity demand centres, and harnesses a very strong wind resource," Mr Baldwin said.

The wind farm would take roughly two years to build and would be generating electricity by 2013.

the more the merrier

How well is New Zeland positioned in regards to the rest of the world in terms of self sufficiency with energy and how will wind farms and other projects on this site contribute to our standing?:)

^^ Self sufficiency for electricity? We're doing darned well. However, self sufficiency for energy in general - pretty awful. We're highly reliant upon importation of oil. Every single piece of freight and logistics would be stalled in this country tomorrow if oil was cut off.

Any oil we do get out of Taranaki generally gets exported anyway.... bizarrely.

I think it's because the only refinery we have can't deal with the oil thats found in taranaki. If this is the reason why then I think even though the greens would complain a lot we should have another refinery built that can so that at the very least we don't rely so much on foreign oil. It would probably also reduce carbon emissions by not having to transport oil half way around the world. It might raise carbon emissions within New Zealand but if you think about the whole world it would be better off that way.

I think it's because the only refinery we have can't deal with the oil thats found in taranaki. If this is the reason why then I think even though the greens would complain a lot we should have another refinery built that can so that at the very least we don't rely so much on foreign oil. It would probably also reduce carbon emissions by not having to transport oil half way around the world. It might raise carbon emissions within New Zealand but if you think about the whole world it would be better off that way.


There's probably not enough certainty of supply to make it worth the investment. What's the expected life of the Tui field? 15 years or so? By the time they competed building a refinery it would be on the decline.

That depends on any new discoveries of oil. There is a hell of a lot of exploration going on around the country and it is not long before they hit something big.:)

But oil is still finite. Why rely heavily upon something that will expire? I think future-proofing everything is most important at the moment rather than hoping for a find. Currently every country is scrabbling to try to find oil, it's all a bit sad really. :(

It's like trying to squeeze the last drop of blood out of a stone.

^^ Self sufficiency for electricity? We're doing darned well. However, self sufficiency for energy in general - pretty awful. We're highly reliant upon importation of oil. Every single piece of freight and logistics would be stalled in this country tomorrow if oil was cut off.

What countries would not be completely stalled if oil was cut off tomorrow?!

What countries would not be completely stalled if oil was cut off tomorrow?!

Iceland, and most of the 3rd world. Though I am not lumping Iceland in to the 3rd world, but due to their Geothermal resources and move towards a hydrogen economy. The third world, well because they generally don't need energy for heating, and most can still fall back quickly to cart and bull tech!

What countries would not be completely stalled if oil was cut off tomorrow?!


Was Barzil reasonably self sufficient in the 80s and 90s due to their ethanol production from sugar cane?

I think either their own growing economy, or the new world market for biofuels creating opportunities to export was was formerly a domestic industry, has now changed the balance some what.

I can't help wondering if Meridian include turbines that are likely to be thrown out so they can appear to be reasonable by scaling back the project.
Ohariu wind farm may be cut back
JENNY LING - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 31 July 2008

Wellington City Council is recommending that Meridian Energy's 31-turbine Mill Creek wind farm be scaled back to just 25 turbines.
more (http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominionpost/4637648a23882.html)

Possibly. Not a bad approach to say you'll do more than you actually want to, then scale back to make it seem like you're compromising.

Less power saving necessary in the future with a bit of luck...

Wairau River Hydro scheme wins consent (http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/trustpowers-wairau-river-hydro-scheme-wins-consent-33693)

TrustPower's Wairau River hydro scheme wins consent
NZPA

Tuesday August 5 2008 - 09:57am

TrustPower's plans for a $275 million hydro scheme in Marlborough's Wairau Valley have been granted resource consents, the company says.

The proposed 72 megawatt scheme would take water from the Wairau River, and pass it though six power stations, including the existing Branch River hydro scheme, before returning the water to the river some 50km downstream.

TrustPower said today that it had been advised by Marlborough District Council that it had been granted the resource consents needed to build the scheme.

The full resource consents followed interim consents issued in June 2007 after six months of hearings by a panel of independent commissioners, and a subsequent hearing to determine a wide range of conditions designed to minimise impact on the environment.

TrustPower chief executive Keith Tempest said the issuing of the full suite of resource consents and conditions had justified the time, effort and expense TrustPower had put into the proposal since it was first mooted in 2002.

"The proposed scheme will provide direct benefits to upper South Island communities and indirect benefits to the rest of New Zealand through the freeing up of electricity currently imported into that region for more efficient use elsewhere," he said.

"At the same time it will assist New Zealand to meet its targets of increased sustainable generation using local natural resources, with minimal impact on the environment."

TrustPower's shares closed at $7.75 yesterday, having ranged between $9.50 last October and $6.95 in January.