KEY POINTS:
With hydro lakes at their lowest levels in years and talk of a looming power crisis, some New Zealanders are turning to alternative energy sources - really big ones.
Graham Purchas, who is considering buying a 4m-high wind turbine for his farm north of Wellington, was among the thousands who yesterday poured through the gates for the opening day of the 40th Fieldays at Mystery Creek, near Hamilton.
The four-day event is the biggest agricultural show in the Southern Hemisphere and last year had a turnover of $300 million.
More than 1000 exhibitions over the show's 94ha are displaying farming innovations and new technology, ranging from smart phone systems which can oversee any aspect of farm management to recycled pieces of plastic which dry the insides of your gumboots overnight with the right wind conditions.
"You'd probably be surprised at how many people have shown an interest in these things," said Jonathan Prince, a co-creator of a wind-driven gumboot dryer he calls "Windry".
But Mr Purchas, a 48-year-old software developer, had his eyes firmly on the wind turbine.
"Given how windy it gets down in Wellington, it's probably ideal," he said. . And with the cost of electricity these days and all the other problems we've had lately, it's probably the way to go."
With a 20km/h wind, the 2.4kW wind turbine, which works in conjunction with a grid-tied power situation, can generate enough power to keep a four-bedroom home powered.
"A lot of people are freaked out by the cost of energy, so we are getting people who are hedging their bets against rising energy prices," said Hamish Littin, general manager of Elemental Energy. He said the turbines were environmentally-friendly and economically sound.
"If we are generating more than the home is consuming, then we export energy back out to the grid and the energy companies credit you back at retail rates."
With a $20,000 price tag, the turbines are not cheap, but Mr Littin said they lasted for at least 20 years and would pay paid for themselves well before that.
