Pro-green hydro scheme gets tick

An environmentally friendly hydro-electric power scheme on the West Coast has won resource consent.

Hydro Development (HDL) said it had received a formal decision on its Stockton Plateau hydro scheme allowing the company to harness tributaries of the Ngakawau River.

The scheme uses polluted water from the coal mines on the Stockton Plateau and channels it through tunnels, reservoirs and power stations to generate power before discarding it in an ocean outfall offshore.

Commissioners, appointed by West Coast Regional Council and Buller District Council, said the project met Resource Management Act tests. The scheme "enables the use, development or protection of natural and physical resources in a way and at a rate to enable communities to provide for their social and economic wellbeing and their health and safety", they said.

It would stop a large volume of acid mine drainage from entering the Ngakawau River which should improve water quality, while using contaminated water to generate "a much needed local supply of electricity".

The scheme would serve the Buller District, including Westport, as well as north to Karamea and south beyond Charleston.

It would produce enough power to meet residential and major industries' demand. Any surplus power would be fed into the national grid. When fully commissioned, the scheme is expected to provide a continuous power supply of about 20 megawatts, with output up to 50MW for shorter periods during and after rainfall.

"No one who has been on the Stockton Plateau when it is raining would doubt those figures," HDL project manager John Easther said.

"A conservative assessment of the energy produced each year is 240 gigawatt hours. Capital costs are in the order of $4 million to $5 million per MW; less than $1 million per GWh pa and similar to recently announced new entrant hydro generation projects."

The company estimates construction costs will be around $200 million, creating about 50 jobs over five years.

- NZPA