Meridian blows hot in Victoria

State-owned power company Meridian Energy is on the verge of lodging an application to build a half-billion-dollar, 250-turbine windfarm in western Victoria.

The design of the Macarther windfarm, which would be Australasia's largest, would be based on other, smaller Meridian windfarms, including one near Palmerston North and another just opened near Adelaide.

A Meridian spokesman said that while resource consent application had not been filed for the Macarther project, community consultation and planning had already begun.

This could affect the final size of the farm, although it preferred a 350MW project and hoped to submit a planning permit application by the middle of this year.

The biggest windfarm in Australasia is at Te Apiti in the Manawatu. It has 55 turbines generating 90MW of power.

Meridian's Australian expansion is coming through its subsidiary, Southern Hydro, which it bought in 2003 for $630 million.

It is the only state-owned power company operating in Australia, although its private sector rival, Contact Energy, is part-owner of two power stations across the Tasman.

Meridian, which is New Zealand's largest electricity generator, has made a commitment to only use renewable sources of energy.

It already has resource consent for a new 70MW windfarm near Mossburn in Southland and has a similar-sized farm planned for Dollar, south of Melbourne.

State-owned enterprises (SOEs) investing money in offshore projects has attracted controversy in the past and the Meridian investment in Australian comes at a time of rising power bills for New Zealand homes and businesses.

In December 2003, Finance Minister Michael Cullen gave SOEs a cautious go-ahead for foreign investments.

Meridian's investments have so far been successful and kept low-key, while other SOE forays, such as those by NZ Post and Airways, have caused political headaches for the Government.

Windy wonders

* The 250-turbine west Victorian windfarm will be the largest in Australasia.
* It will cost up to $500 million.
* The 55-turbine Te Apiti windfarm in the Manawatu is the largest now.
* Two more windfarms are on the drawing board, both about 70MW, one in Southland and another at Dollar, south of Melbourne.