By Bruce Holloway - Waikato Times - Friday, 29 August 2008

Councils are opposed to Government plans to fast-track Contact Energy's application to build a gigantic $1 billion wind farm along the isolated Te Akau coast.

By Gavin Evans

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- New Zealand's government will expedite a ruling on whether Contact Energy Ltd. can build a NZ$1 billion ($700 million) wind farm on the North Island.

Monday April 28, 2008
By Brian Fallow – The New Zealand Herald

The costs of integrating wind power into the electricity system are relatively low, a study has found.

The study was headed by Professor Goran Strbac of Imperial College London and commissioned by Meridian Energy. It was not concerned with the cost of building and operating wind farms or of any additional transmission investment needed to connect them to the national grid.

The Press, Christchurch, 04/07/2008

Wind energy provided 2.2 per cent of total electricity generation last year, figures from the Ministry of Economic Development reveal.

State-owned Mighty River Power is asking Government to fast-track its application to build a 131-turbine wind farm near Palmerston North.

Environment Minister Trevor Mallard says he intends to call in Contact Energy's proposal for a 180-turbine wind farm near Raglan to be considered by an independent board of inquiry.

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By The Press

Resource consents for a wind farm in North Canterbury are expected to be lodged with the Hurunui District Council next month or early September.

MainPower wants to build the farm on a 3km ridge running north-east from the summit of Mount Cass, 6km east of Waipara.

It could be generating power by late 2009 to between 4000 and 10,000 homes, depending on its size and turbine selection.

By David Williams, The Press

Meridian Energy has strenuously attacked a suggestion that it has a secret expansion plan for its proposed $2 billion Central Otago wind farm. It insists that is not the case.

The controversial Project Hayes – to erect 176 wind turbines on the Lammermoor Range, 30km south of Ranfurly – has been opposed by All Black Anton Oliver, poet Brian Turner and artist Grahame Sydney. Each turbine will be 160 metres tall.

Meridian says the farm was unmatched in New Zealand and could save more than a million tonnes of CO2 emissions each year – the equivalent of taking 296,000 cars off the road.

New Zealand start-up EREC Ltd launches its first wind turbine for rural customers
Press Release: Energy Recovery Engineering and Construction

This week, New Zealand start up Energy Recovery Engineering and Construction Limited (EREC) launched its first prototype wind turbine designed to bring affordable and renewable energy to rural New Zealand. The new 11 kilowatt wind turbine was erected in Hukerenui, Northland. It is designed specifically for farmers and people in remote locations to offset or ultimately eliminate the effects of rising rural electricity prices.

By NZ Herald

Homeowners could soon get part of their power supply from a small wind turbine fixed on their roof, if a power company's trial shows potential.

The electricity distribution company Vector yesterday began the trial at Waitakere City Council, where a micro wind turbine has been installed on the roof of the civic centre from where it will feed electricity directly into the building.

Palmerston North wind decision not excusable

Palmerston North Regional Council announced yesterday that they would only give partial consent to the construction of a new wind farm near Motorimu. Although the original plan for the wind farm included 127 wind turbines the council Commissioners have only given approval to 75. Christine Bowen, a spokeswomen for Allco, the developers of the wind farm, said that the decision came as a great disappointment. Allco is now considering whether to appeal against the decision in the Environment Court or to go ahead with constructing the smaller wind farm.

The commissioner's decision against the farm has been sharply criticized by the head of the NZ Wind Energy Association, Fraser Clark. Mr Clarks says the Commissioners cannot escape the reality that their decision has lowered New Zealand’s capacity for sustainable electricity generation.

By New Zealand Herald.

A wind power lobby group has hit back at All Black Anton Oliver over his campaign against a South Island wind farm. In a statement today, the Wind Energy Association condemned his comments as a "shrill" attack and said that few people would be swayed by his comments.

That young Pukeko we all know and love from the idiot box provides an alternative view of the TV ad promoting coal hungry SOE Genesis Energy, revealing the dirty secret beneath the slick PR of the ad campaign.

Auckland, New Zealand — Greenpeace today applauded the Environment Court's decision to approve a major wind farm project near Wellington. Greenpeace supported this project and joined the appeal in the Environment court on the basis of its significance in helping New Zealand reduce greenhouse pollution.

In an Environment Court decision released yesterday, an application by Unison Networks to establish a 37 turbine wind farm in the vicinity of the Te Waka Range has been declined. Hastings District Council granted the application to Unison after a month of hearings in May 2006. The application was in addition to the 90 turbine wind farms already approved by the Environment Court in the vicinity of State Highway 5 and the Titiokura Saddle. In its decision the Environment Court said it could not agree with the Council on the degree of adverse landscape effects in particular.