Contact thermal project first to take new fast track

Contact Energy's proposal for a geothermal power station will be the first application to go straight to the Government's new Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), Environment Minister Nick Smith said yesterday.

Contact's proposal for the station in the Tauhara steam field near Taupo will be submitted to an independent board of inquiry and will not have to go through a regional or territorial authority as is usually the case.

The EPA was set up as part of Government changes to streamline the Resource Management Act last year.

"A board of inquiry, chaired by an Environment Court judge, is the most appropriate way to deal with this nationally significant geothermal power station proposal," Smith said.

"It means a decision on this application must be made within nine months of public notification. Appeal rights are also limited as the Government's objective is to do these major projects once and do them properly, without years of litigation."

At 240MW the Tauhara II geothermal station could provide power to all homes in a region the size of Greater Wellington.

Smith said the board members had the right mix of skills to hear the application and he was confident the process would result "in a robust and timely decision".

"This Government is keen to encourage development of renewable energy, reversing the declining trend of the last decade. Changes to the RMA and the establishment of the EPA are part of that strategy."

The EPA board of inquiry will be headed by Judge Gordon Whiting, an Environment Court judge since 1997.

- NZPA