Southland seems to be shaping up as the latest center of windfarm development, with Trustpower announcing plans for a new wind farm at Otaraia, near Gore. Other reports suggest it will be at least 100 MW, confirming the trend towards larger farms. Trustpower is already seeking resource consent for a 200 MW farm at Mahinerangi near Dunedin, and Meridian has one farm under construction and is seeking resource consent for another. There's an obvious market for all this power in both the urban centres of Dunedin (and to a lesser extent, Invercargill), and the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, but its unlikely to be of much direct benefit outside the South Island - the reason being that the Cook Strait Cable only has limited capacity. On the other hand, every MegaJoule of energy generated from wind is that much more water which can be stored in the South Island hydro lakes, so there is a significant benefit in improving security of supply as well as in meeting demand.
Trustpower will likely apply for resource consent for Otaraia in the middle of next year.
6 comments:
An article in the Press the other day suggested that it was dairy farming that was driving the boom in wind power down south.
article here
http://www.stuff.co.nz/search/3915963a6405.html
Posted by Michael : 1/07/2007 12:49:00 PM
"but its unlikely to be of much direct benefit outside the South Island"
The obvious solution, then, would be to encourage new industries to start up in the South Island rather than to add to the Auckland Bubble.
Posted by Anonymous : 1/07/2007 12:50:00 PM
Michael: interesting.
Spectator: what, promote regional development and bring jobs and growth to places other than Auckland's corporate boradrooms? Surely that's heresy...
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 1/07/2007 01:54:00 PM
Anon: Who wants more jobs in redneckville?
People who live there. This may surprise you, but they need to earn a living too - and hoping for an Aucklander to wander down on a holiday and give them a large tip just doesn't cut it.
Posted by Idiot/Savant : 1/07/2007 08:28:00 PM
Indeed, how could anyone possibly wish to live and work in "redneckville," when there's the option of living on the same island as smart, cultured sophisticates like anon available?
Posted by Psycho Milt : 1/08/2007 07:10:00 AM
He's not a sophisticate, just a regular Takapuna boy. We even watch Shortland Street together. But unlike most North Shore siblings, we don't 'do it' any more. The skid marks he left on the sheets were the last straw.
Posted by Anonymous : 1/08/2007 01:46:00 PM
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