A board of inquiry will be formed next month to consider whether the 180-turbine project should be built around Raglan in the Waikato region, the government said today. The panel's findings can only be challenged on points of law, limiting court appeals which have delayed some projects by as much as two years.
``I consider this proposal to be of national significance,'' Environment Minister Trevor Mallard said in a statement. ``In terms of security of electricity supply, the proposal will have potential effects beyond'' the local area.
New Zealand, a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change, wants 90 percent of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025, compared with about 70 percent now. Delays in getting new generation projects under way prompted the government last year to signal its intention to use its so- called ``call-in'' powers to take over hearings for projects of national importance more often.
Contact's 540-megawatt wind-farm project would be the country's second-largest after the 630-megawatt Hayes project that Meridian Energy Ltd. is seeking approval for on the South Island.
Project Delays
Meridian's Hayes project, approved in October, is stalled pending resumption of an Environment Court hearing next January. TrustPower Ltd.'s consents for a NZ$275 million hydroelectric project on the Wairau River are also to be appealed to the Environment Court. Council approval was granted this month, three years after the company lodged its proposal.
Planning approvals are usually decided by district and regional councils. The government's call-in powers can also be used for projects it considers to be beyond the resources of the local agencies.
A board of inquiry formed in February to consider Contact's 234-megawatt Te Mihi geothermal project near Taupo held hearings in July and published its draft decision Aug. 5.
To contact the reporter on this story: Gavin Evans in Wellington at gavinevans@bloomberg.net.
