Trustpower ready to deal with angry Australian protesters

By CHRIS DANIELS ENERGY WRITER

Trustpower is confident it can deal with threats of direct protest action against its proposed windfarm in South Australia.

The Tauranga company has been going through a long consent process to get permission to build a $60 million windfarm at Myponga, about 60km south of Adelaide.

Trustpower owns the largest windfarm in New Zealand, near Palmerston North. It is installing another 55 turbines at this farm, doubling its size.

The Adelaide project has provoked some community concern about its visual impact.

Trustpower plans to build 20, 100m-high turbines on the Myponga site. Its turbines will be visible from Adelaide.

Opponents have seized on a confidential report from planning officials that recommended refusing consent for the farm. State cabinet ministers rejected the recommendation.

Barry Webb, of Myponga Beach, told the Australian Sunday Mail newspaper, "there will be no limit" to the protests.

"We will lie in front of bulldozers and chain ourselves to the gates," he said.

Trustpower sees the project as being one part of a two-stage development in South Australia.

The other farm is further away from Adelaide, near Snowtown, and Trustpower chief executive Keith Tempest said it had a lot of support.

One of South Australia's top wineries had told Trustpower it wanted to put a picture of the planned Myponga windfarm on the labels of its wine bottles.

The Trustpower board had yet to give final approval to the Myponga plan, and the earliest construction could begin would be next summer.

"Trustpower does have the experience of building and owning windfarms, that's our business," Tempest said.

"We're sticking to core business and we're wanting to build more in New Zealand as well."

Trustpower says the Myponga windfarm will generate power for up to 17,000 average homes and displace up to 112,000 tonnes a year of greenhouse gas emissions which would otherwise be produced by fossil-fuel generation.

Tempest said he was not worried about the potential for protest action, as there was plenty of time to keep talking to opponents before the windfarm was built.

Trustpower is listed on the NZSX and is largely owned by three main shareholders - Infratil with 35.2 per cent, the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust with 28.6 per cent and US energy company Alliant with 23.8 per cent.