Tararua Wind Power's proposed wind farm at Waverley has been finally granted resource consent:
Permission has been granted for the construction of Taranaki's first windfarm.
Tararua Wind Power Ltd now has resource consents for 10 years to begin work on a $325 million, 48-turbine wind farm on the coast between Waverley and Patea, if it decides to go ahead.
A decision was announced on Friday by the trio of independent commissioners who heard submissions for and against the plan by the firm, (formerly Trustpower), in May.
This is good news. Generators had stopped seeking consent for new capacity a few years ago in the wake of the Great Financial Crisis and uncertainty over long-term electricity demand. But now they seem to be back at it. And if the previous focus on renewables keeps up, we should see a real shift in New Zealand's energy emissions.
