Renewable energy developers in New Zealand will benefit from a new policy that requires local and regional authorities to include renewable energy promotion into their development plans and planning decisions
New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment which issued the policy said the National Policy Statement for Renewable Energy Generation 2011, or NPS REG which came into effect on 13 May, would drive a consistent approach to planning for renewable energy generation.
Local officials have to take the policy into account regardless of when the application was lodged, according to an article on the issue in Platts Renewable Energy Report, a magazine published by the global company, Platts, a source of benchmark price assessments in the physical energy markets.
This meant that the policy would apply to both existing and planned development applications, including ones to build wind farms that had not yet been considered.
While large hydropower is to remain the mainstay of the generation mix, the wind and geothermal energy sectors are to be expanded to replace thermal capacity.
The article quotes NZ Environment Minister Nick Smith saying: “New Zealand’s electricity emissions have increased 122 per cent since 1990 despite a Kyoto commitment to stabilize them at 1990 levels.”
“Policies failed badly during the last decade when coal-generated power doubled and the Labor government intervened to build new gas and diesel plants. The NPS REG is part of a plan to reverse this negative trend.”
Requiring local authorities to recognize the importance of renewable energy for New Zealand would produce “more consistent and pragmatic rules that will encourage investment in renewable energy,” Mr Smith said.
Some conservation groups opposed the measure, fearing it would make it easier to build large hydroelectric dams that would spoil recreation areas and harm wildlife. But renewable energy groups applauded the new policy.
The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority, an agency established by the government to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, believes that using natural resources rather than finite resources, and avoiding reliance on imported fuels to generate electricity, were also important benefits highlighted in the NPS.
The authority said: “An increase in New Zealand’s renewable electricity supply will also contribute to security of supply and electricity system resilience by ensuring that generation options are varied in type and location.”
The New Zealand Wind Energy Association recently co-funded with EECA a review of the New Zealand standard for managing noise from wind farms and is now leading a project that will describe good practice in wind farm development, including the best way to manage local impacts, the article said.
