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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.