New Zealand has declined to advance a large wind turbine farm in the country’s south.
An independent Expert Consenting Panel—established under New Zealand’s COVID-19 Recovery (Fast-Track Consenting) Act, passed in 2020—has declined resource consent for the 55-turbine, 330 megawatt windfarm in Southland, near the bottom of the country’s South Island.
It was expected to produce around 1,200 GWh of additional generation each year, or about 3.07 percent of the country’s needs, and sufficient to power up to 150,000 households.
Contact Energy, a large “gentailer” (a power company that both owns generation assets and sells electricity directly to the public), was behind the proposal.
CEO Mike Fuge said in a statement to the NZ Stock Exchange (NZX) that the panel’s refusal “represents a significant setback for New Zealand’s decarbonisation, Contact’s mission to improve electricity security of supply and the country’s economic development.
“Investing and building renewable energy generation, like the Southland Wind Farm, is in the national interest and is critical to reducing reliance on declining natural gas supply and providing affordable, clean and secure electricity to all New Zealanders,” Fuge said.
The panel had agreed with the estimated power generation of the project, and acknowledged its potential to support the goal of doubling the overall volume of electricity from renewable sources by 2050.
But it said it was “not satisfied adverse effects on significant indigenous vegetation and the significant habitats of indigenous fauna [in the area] can be offset or compensated for in a way that will achieve the purpose of the Fast Tracked Consenting Act.
“Although the project could urgently promote employment to support New Zealand’s recovery from the economic and social impacts of COVID-19, and support the certainty of ongoing investment across New Zealand, the environmental effects are such that the project will not promote the sustainable management of natural and physical resources,” the panel’s report says.
The 58.5 hectares of indigenous plants are mostly wetland and tussock, with 3.18 hectares of forest. These are home to 16 native bird species including several classed as threatened and others deemed at risk or declining.
The decision can be appealed to the High Court within 15 working days, but only on points of law and either by the applicant or those who were invited to comment during the application process.
“We strongly believe a project such as this would benefit all of New Zealand. We will take the time to review the decision and assess the next steps available to us,” Fuge said.
The proposal was first floated when Labour was in power, with both Energy Minister Megan Woods and Environment Minister David Parker supporting its construction in 2023.
