A few years ago, we looked to be on-track to a decarbonised future, with an international consortium led by BlueFloat Energy announcing plans for huge offshore windfarms off Taranaki and Waikato. But National's corrupt fast-track law just fucked all that:
Spanish offshore wind developer BlueFloat Energy is cancelling plans for wind farms off the coast of Taranaki and Waikato, citing “key uncertainties” about the route to market and the competition for allocation of the seabed.This is an absolute disaster. In addition to GW of renewable generation, these offshore wind developments were expected to result in 10,000 jobs during construction and 2,000 ongoing ones for maintenance. It would have been a lifeline for the Taranaki economy, a replacement for its current fossil industry which would have allowed many fossil employees to move directly into new work. But National prefers to rip, shit, and bust for a tiny number of mining jobs with no wider benefits, to help a company which lies to the stock exchange.The move comes after a controversial seabed mining plan was revealed to be among the 149 projects listed in the Government’s Fast-Track Approvals Bill.
Developers, including BlueFloat, have previously said the seabed mining project could shrink or completely eliminate the area available for offshore wind in South Taranaki, which is considered to have the country’s best wind resource.
Heckuva job, National. Hope you're proud of yourselves.
