February 11, 2011
New Zealand

Mighty River fails to get full turbine allocation

NZPA, www.stuff.co.nz 11 February 2011

Mighty River Power is trying to make the numbers work on a planned wind farm at Turitea, east of Palmerston North, after getting the nod for significantly fewer turbines than it wants.

A Board of Inquiry has issued a draft determination allowing resource consents for 61 turbines, which is less than the 105 the company wants to build.

The smaller scale will adversely impact on the project’s economics, Mark Trigg, general manager for development at Mighty River Power said.

“This is a world-class wind resource. The draft decision removes one uncertainty around the project and allows us to move forward with assessing detailed technical and commercial considerations for the draft wind farm consent.”

The company would work through the detail of the decision and await the board’s final decision, he said.

“If this draft decision is confirmed, it means we have an opportunity to respond more quickly as market conditions allow, taking into account the changed economics of a much smaller project.

“With the Board of Inquiry decision in hand, the lead-time to build the wind farm at Turitea is now less than two years from the point that the Company determines that market conditions support a decision to invest,” he said.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/02/11/mighty-river-fails-to-get-full-turbine-allocation/