~ Press Releases, New Zealand

~ Press Releases, New Zealand
26 Sep 2007 ~

An open letter to Helen Clark, Prime Minister of New Zealand

Prime Minister, KEEP COMMERCIAL WIND FARMS AWAY FROM FAMILY DWELLINGS Tomorrow, 27 September, you may be attending a "symbolic first sod-turning ceremony" on Makara Farm with the Danish Minister of Transport and Technology and Meridian Energy. There is no cause for celebration for the local Makara community or Wellington's best and nationally important coast. Recent overseas research and experience ... Complete story »

Proposed Makara Wind should have raised alarms

~ New Zealand
24 Sep 2007 ~

Proposed Makara Wind should have raised alarms

Makara Guardians Incorporated president Jenny Jorgensen believes alarm bells should have been rung after looking back at Meridian's claims about its proposed wind farm at Makara. Prior to the Environmental Court consent Meridian noted the project required 70 turbines, Terawhiti Hill provided 13 suitable sites was not developed as part of Meridian's 'self-imposed' mitigation, the project ... Complete story »

Powercos to cash in on carbon

Windfall profits are on the way for power companies already flush with cash, experts say, as consumers bear the brunt of higher power prices from plans to penalise carbon emissions. The perverse outcome is a result of the electricity market delivering consumers the most expensive power available to meet demand, not the cheapest. ...Business NZ chief executive Phil O'Reilly said he was concerned Meridian was now saying its Makara windfarm project was only marginally viable. "You get the impression they are calculating how much they are going to try to get out of the system to make the project pay for itself," he said.


Read the full article  here

Wind farm decision likely next year

~ New Zealand
18 Sep 2007 ~

Wind farm decision likely next year

Trustpower expects a decision to be made on its resource consent application for a $500 million wind farm near Mataura by the middle of next year, although construction is not expected to begin on the site until 2009. TrustPower project manager Jim Pearson, at an information evening at the Ascot Park Hotel in Invercargill last night, ... Complete story »

New Zealand

~ New Zealand
14 Sep 2007 ~

Tararua has 'best wind farm in the world'

Manawatu will get more wind farms, but the Environment Court should rule on where they go, says Energy and Climate Change Minister David Parker. He was on hand to open the third and final stage of the Tararua wind farm yesterday. Speaking after the official opening of the $185 million expansion of the wind farm, TrustPower ... Complete story »




~ New Zealand
13 Sep 2007 ~

Resource consent sought for wind farm

South Taranaki District Council has received its first-ever resource consent application for construction of a wind farm. Allco Wind Energy announced in April it planned to build a wind farm on coastal farmland near Waverley. Bernhard Voll, technical director of Allco, yesterday confirmed the company had lodged a resource consent with the district council, but declined to ... Complete story »

The Campaign against Windfarms

The Campaign against Windfarms

This section of Country Guardian's website is concerned with the Campaign itself, including information about windfarm sites, opposition groups in the UK and Worldwide and practical advice.

 

 

Costing the Earth - BBC programme lifts the lid on the subsidies levied on energy consumers, which underpin ineffective wind turbines.

Click on Listen Again at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/aod/mainframe.shtml?http://www.bbc.co.uk/ radio/aod/index.shtml?button

This is the BBC News overview of the programme.:

Wind Rush

Wind power is the fastest growing renewable energy sector in Britain. The government is investing massive amounts of money in its future. But experts interviewed on Costing the Earth claim the power of the wind to deliver electricity is being overestimated by companies keen to cash in on big subsidies.
In order to fight climate change we have meet targets set by the EU which wants 20% of our energy to come from renewable sources like the wind by 2020. The government has admitted its struggling, but says it is determined to meet its obligations. Companies which hit green energy targets are rewarded under the government's Renewables Obligation Certificate Scheme or ROCs.
On paper wind power is a great proposition. We are the windiest nation in Europe – but despite the government having subsidised the wind industry to the tune of half a billion pounds so far - as yet its failed to deliver half of one per cent of our electricity needs.
Michael Jefferson Policies Chairman of the World Renewable Energy Network and former Chief Economist with Shell believes the industry is encouraged to exaggerate not only wind speeds but the amount of potential wind energy a farm can supply. He worries there are many badly sited poorly performing wind farms in England.
Engineering consultant Jim Oswald has analysed the figures submitted to the electricity watchdog Ofgem on every wind farm's load factor - the amount of wind generated across the year. The recommended load factor for a viable and efficient wind development is 30%, but he says the average across Britain is 28%. He says the problem lies with the volatility of the wind and although Britain is the windiest country in Europe, it's not consistently windy enough to generate a regular energy supply. Sometimes we have high winds and often no wind at all and there is no way of storing wind energy. He also says that many wind farms are being built in places where there will never be sufficient wind power to generate enough electricity. He has serious concerns that with no long term strategy for upgrading our electricity infrastructure over the next decade an over reliance on wind power could result in major power failures and increase our electricity bills by up to 50%.

Commenton the programme from Sir Bernard Ingham, Vice President of Country Guardian

From: Bernard Ingham
Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2007 05:19:08 EDT
To: maggie.ayre@bbc.co.uk
Subject: WIND POWER

Your programme was timely, though I do wonder why it has taken 17 years for the message to get through to the BBC. Wind EVERYWHERE has always been intermittent and unreliable and as a result windpower is far from being clean because of the need for standby power.

Wind turbines are a useful political tool: they very visibly demonstrate action, even if that action is meaningless. Not a single wind farm would have been built without massive subsidies which are impairing the nation's competitiveness.

If politicians had consulted engineers, they would have discovered all this decades ago. Indeed, experienced electrical engineers will tell you that, however much wind power you have in MW terms, you will still need enough conventional generating plant available to the grid to meet maximum national demand.

For wind generators, this is a legitimate scam not to be missed. For politicians, this is an easy way out of doing the hard things necessary to change our lifestyle.
For the public, it is an expensive con.

For fanatical greens wind is a useful "alternative" to nuclear power, regardless of its industrialisation of wild uplands.

At least you have raised some doubts about it.

(Sir) Bernard Ingham,

Meridian’s Makara Wind Farm: Was "Indivisible"

~ Press Releases, New Zealand
10 Sep 2007 ~

Meridian's Makara Wind Farm: Was "Indivisible"

Jenny Jorgensen, President of Makara Guardians Incorporated said that looking back at Meridian's claims about its proposed wind farm at Makara, should raise alarm bells. What Meridian said at the start: * The project was indivisible, it required 70 turbines; * The site had low wind turbulence; * Terawhiti Hill which provided 13 suitable sites was not developed as ... Complete story »

New Zealand

~ New Zealand
04 Sep 2007 ~

Court overstepped turbine mark, says Unison

The Environment Court overstepped its mark by ruling against an application to build 37 wind turbines in Hawke's Bay, says Unison Networks. The lines company told the High Court at Napier yesterday that the Environment Court was not entitled to overrule a public plan. Unison lawyer Paul Majurey said the area where the company wanted to build ... Complete story »

Giant turbines whip up a storm

A wind farm planned for hills between Porirua and Hutt Valley has stirred up a storm, with angry residents claiming huge turbines on nearby ridgelines will be an eyesore and devalue their properties. Greater Wellington regional council has tendered development rights for the Puketiro wind farm to British company RES New Zealand. The company has been consulting ... Complete story »

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