Smith Murray: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — In Committee 
Smith Murray: Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:623;Page:18925] 
MURRAY SMITH (United Future) 
: 
 I am very pleased to stand on behalf of United Future to take a call on the Wellington Regional Council (Water Board Functions) Bill particularly because the land that is predominantly being looked at by the Wellington Regional Council surrounds the Hutt Valley which is where I reside and where I represent United Future. I am also pleased I was able to be on the Local Government and Environment Committee to consider this bill. My position in terms of my knowledge of the Hutt Valley also enables me to provide some information to the House about the value of this land—some of it in particular—in terms of its use for wind energy and the fact that it is internationally comparatively some of the best land in the world to be used for wind farming. 
 Renewable energy is something that New Zealanders have long adhered to and our hydro schemes have been at the forefront in terms of developing renewable energy resources. In recent times the world has been looking at other renewable energy sources such as wind sun and tidal forces. It is important that we as a nation maximise all the assets that we have and our wind resource is certainly one of those. Over the last century we have seen energy use double on average every 22 years. I note that this has also led to cost increases. In the October 2003 issue of  
New Zealand Energy Outlook to 2025 
 the Ministry of Economic Development predicted that wholesale electricity prices which at that time were 6.3c per kilowatt hour would rise in 2020 to 7.2c per kilowatt hour and in 2025 to 8.4c per kilowatt hour. 
So we are faced with that pressure for a resource that there is more demand for and we clearly have to fulfil that demand otherwise we will have skyrocketing prices but we will still be putting clamps on industrial development in this nation. Wind power as a consequence of that pressure is becoming more and more affordable particularly in situations such as where Project Aqua did not get off the ground. The pressure on New Zealand to develop other energy sources is intense and New Zealand does provide some of the best wind resources in the world. 
The Tararua scheme that has been referred to Te Apiti is recognised as one of the best-performing wind farms in the world. It achieves a capacity factor of 50 percent which is regarded as being at the very top of international scales. The monthly average wind speed it generates is 12 metres per second which is also considered to be exceptionally good. I mention those figures because of the comparative figures with some of this land which I will go on to. 
In May 2003 the Wellington Regional Council approved funding for a report to look at up to four sites in the Wellington regional area in terms of wind farm development and three sites were selected: Mount Climie Belmont and Puketiro—all of which as I said before surround the Hutt Valley. The report that the council officers presented to the council in May 2004 which was the latest report on those areas of land is interesting. It notes that Mount Climie stood out as an exceptional site for wind farming. At Tararua there is a 50 percent capacity factor which is very high by international standards. Mount Climie delivers a 64.6 percent capacity factor. Tararua generates wind speed of 12 metres per second which is very high by international standards. Mount Climie delivers wind speed of 15.7 metres per second. One can see that the value of Mount Climie therefore is at the very top end of international scales and in fact it is one of the best sites in the world for generating energy through wind turbines. 
It is predicted that on Mount Climie there would be the capacity for 63 turbines of 1 megawatt size. Allowing not for a 64.6 percent capacity but for a 55 percent capacity factor taking a very conservative line that would generate 300 gigawatt hours of electricity per annum. To put that into language that we might better understand it might be enough power to service 35000 homes or one-third of the Wellington metropolitan area. That is the significance of the Mount Climie site and this bill facilitates Wellington Regional Council being able to develop that site. 
Just by way of interest of the other two sites the Belmont site and the Puketiro site Belmont was shown to be able to service 81 wind turbines of 1 megawatt capacity. If adjoining owners also participated in the development that would rise to 108 turbines. Puketiro would handle 20 turbines of 1 megawatt capacity and again if adjoining owners participated that could rise up to 62. However the report showed that those two sites might at this stage just be economic but I am sure that as the pressure goes on in terms of the provision of energy and as costs rise those sites will get to a point where they will also be very economic to develop. 
So I am delighted to support this bill because it will enable the development by the Wellington Regional Council of those sites and in particular the Mount Climie site to benefit not only the Wellington area but also the nation as a whole as it helps to supply power that then makes the Wellington region less reliant on grid energy that comes from hydro resources and other resources. 
I am pleased that we have been able to approach this on a very positive level and I note that the select committee was unanimous in its view. Clearly there are some concerns which I will address as we look at some of the parts. Those concerns were noted by the Hon Peter Dunne in the first reading of this bill particularly from his point of view as the member for Ohariu-Belmont which at least Belmont is in; Mount Climie is in the Rimutaka electorate. 
He had two concerns. One was the impact on regional park use and the other was the limited scope that the bill had in its initial stage of the development of those sites for wind turbines and in particular that in its initial format only council-controlled trading organisations were able to develop them. As I will go on to discuss and as the members may have noted certainly the second concern has been remedied and to some extent we addressed the first one in the select committee process and we have put in safeguards to address that concern. But as I noted I will address those matters later. 
So United Future is very pleased to support this bill and to see it going through. I sincerely hope that we see those wind farms developing in the shorter term rather than the longer term. I note that there has been concern and really the only criticism of wind farms that has been raised—particularly now that the sound problem has been resolved with the improvement of technology—is visual impact. I am a little sad that Makara for example is being hindered in terms of its development of wind energy because residents fear the visual impact. But I note the irony that although there has been talk about that in the Te Apiti farm up near Palmerston North on the Tararuas effectively the towns nearby are clamouring to be known as the town that the wind farm operates from because they see the potential for tourism. All of them want to be labelled as the town nearest to the Te Apiti wind farm because that will attract tourists to the town and increase its productivity. So from that aspect I am confident that as these farms develop they will prove to be welcome not only for their functionality but also for the positive aspects of the visual amenity that they provide to tourism and also to the local residents.