Trustpower has gained resource consent for its proposed 200MW windfarm at Lake Mahinerangi, near Dunedin. The project is still likely to face the scrutiny of the Environment Court on landscape grounds, though given their previous decisions in such cases, there's a high barrier to success. And OTTH, it's unlikely to make a real difference to the project timeline, as Trustpower put it on hold last year when the dollar was low (something they've presumably changed their mind about since).
Looking at the Wind Energy Association's current projects list (and making adjustments for the stuff that's happened since the last update), we now have 244MW of wind farms under construction (Te Rere Hau and Westwind); 411MW consented and which can start construction anytime, 421MW awaiting appeals, and another 715MW still in the consent process. Which ought to meet our demand growth for quite a few years...
