Wind energy could meet a fifth of NZ's needs, says minister

1.00pm

Wind energy could provide more than 20 per cent of New Zealand's power needs, Energy Minister Pete Hodgson said today.

He was speaking at Meridian Energy's Te Apiti site above Palmerston North, which today produced its first power for the national grid.

Fifty-five 106m wind turbines, the largest in the country, are mushrooming in the hills along Saddle Rd. With a total planned capacity of 90 megawatts, Te Apiti is set to be the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.

"Wind power is enjoying unprecedented growth in New Zealand and is on track to have grown four-fold by the end of the year to April 2005," Mr Hodgson said.

The granting by the Government of tradeable greenhouse gas emissions units enabled the Te Apiti development to go ahead sooner than it otherwise might, he said.

The units were awarded as part of the Government's climate change policy under a scheme which has since developed into the Climate Change Office's Projects to Reduce Emissions programme.

Tenders for a second round of this scheme open later this month, bringing the total number of emissions units offered to 10 million.

"The prospects for wind have never looked better."

When finished, the wind farm will produce enough electricity to supply about 32,000 homes.

The site is expected to supply power over 40 per cent of the time, compared to the international wind farm norm of 20 to 30 per cent.

- NZPA