Contact Energy has said the Environment Minister's intention to call in the company's resource consent application for its proposed Hauauru ma raki wind farm was a positive step forward for the project.
Hauauru ma raki is a wind farm project of up to 540 megawatts which will be located on isolated farmland to the south of Port Waikato. Located close to major demand centres of Hamilton and Auckland, the project will provide enough renewable electricity to power around 180,000 homes.
Contact Chief Executive David Baldwin said the decision to use the call in powers of the Resource Management Act and have the application considered by an independent Board of Inquiry should remove the possibility for unnecessary delays while preserving the right for public participation.
"The decision to call in the Hauauru ma raki wind farm consent application recognises the national significance of the project and the important contribution it can make to a secure, renewable electricity supply for New Zealand," he said.
Mr Baldwin said if New Zealand was to increase the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources, it was important that major electricity generation projects were able to be consented and constructed in a timely fashion.
Mr Baldwin said Contact had been working constructively with Environment Waikato and the Franklin and Waikato District councils throughout the development of the resource consent application and would continue to work closely with them during the hearing process.
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