NZ | Energy Projects

[jarbury]

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!

[kegan]

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...]

[jarbury]

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/...0469420&pnum=0

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.

[SYDNEY]

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

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.

[Kane007]

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!

[spotila]

build it build it build it

[MonsieurAquilone]

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

[Moveax]

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.

[MonsieurAquilone]

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.

[Marky Mark]

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

[jarbury]

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.

[flyin_higher]

Im all for the new wind farm. Brilliant idea.

[Svartmetall]

What he said.

[KIWIKAAS]

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

[Kane007]

Project Hayes

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



Meridian gets nod for Otago wind farm
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.

[Kane007]

Te Rere Hau wind farm

NZ Windfarm's 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.

Extension to Manawatu wind farm
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.

[Kane007]

Trustpower seeks permission for $440m windfarm

NZ Herald
2007/11/07

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.

[jarbury]

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

[Kane007]

Not just proposed everywhere but consented and under construction .

Go scar tactics.

[Classic Man]

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