The Government, fresh from the sale of shares in Mighty River Power and Meridian Energy, faces a harder sell when it comes to divesting a 49 per cent stake in the third and final power generator.

The Auckland Council has approved oil exploration permits off the city's West Coast in a submission to the Government.

Two University of Auckland professors whose technology stands to change the world have won this year's Prime Minister's Science Prize.

The head of New Zealand's investment regulator has hit out at the Government's energy company sharemarket floats and says they have failed to lead the way in making it easier for retail investors to access information.

Meridian says a New York bank owns just 3.98 per cent of the company - not the 8.1 per cent it said earlier.

The price of newly-listed Meridian Energy instalment receipts edged higher this morning.

Analysts expect power company's stock to keep trading above its issue price after gaining 8% on first day.

Meridian Energy's shares debuted at $1.08 after tepid demand in the initial public offering saw the stock sold at the bottom end of its indicative range.

Share price expected to rise on first day but analysts are unsure of progress after that.

The chances of the Govt raising $5 billion to $7 billion from its partial assets sales is looking dimmer after details of No 2 sale, Meridian, were announced last night.

Solid Energy has secured its restructuring deal with most of its banks and the Government following a series of meetings today in Christchurch.

Auckland bio-fuels pioneer Lanzatech has been named the second "hottest" bio-technology company in the world and 4th hottest for bio-chemicals.

Britain has struck an agreement to build a new nuclear power plant - the first such deal in the European Union since the disaster at Fukushima prompted a major rethink of the energy source's merits.

It is deliciously funny to see befuddled Green Party politicians advocating policies that subsidise precisely what they want to discourage, writes Jamie Whyte.

The Labour-Green plan for reducing power prices through a centrally managed bulk buying scheme has certainly set the cat among the pigeons, writes Gehan Gunasekara.

A glitch means some Mighty River Power shareholders have yet to receive notification of how many shares they bought during the company's float.

Editorial: The Green Party has called the Government's bail-out of Solid Energy "privatisation by stealth". Would that it were so.