Greens campaigns for minister to ‘call-in’ power plant

The Green Party is campaigning to stop the proposed construction of a new gas-fired power plant in South Waikato.

Nova Energy has applied for resource consents to build a gas-burning power plant near Otorohanga near the two main pipelines that carry gas north from Taranaki.

The plant would generate up to 360MW when running at full capacity. It would burn gas, including gas from Taranaki, where controversial fracking techniques are used. And as a ‘peaker’ plant it would be designed to run at times of peak demand.

Its location suggests it is designed to power the upper North Island.

Calculations by the Parliamentary Library suggest that if the proposed gas plant runs at a similar “normal” level to Contact Energy’s Stratford gas peaker plant it would generate 425 kilotonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, or 0.52% of New Zealand’s total emissions. Green Party energy spokesperson Gareth Hughes explains that the anticipated emissions would have to be compensated for by planting up to 17,000 ha of trees to “suck up the extra carbon pollution”.

Section 142 of the Resource Management Act allows the environment minister to “call in” a resource consent application so that it is considered by either the minister or an independent panel rather than local councils. In view of this the Green Party is asking environment minister Nick Smith to “call in” the application on the grounds that burning more fossil fuels will affect New Zealand’s obligations under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, and then decline Nova’s application.

“The National Government needs to show it takes climate change seriously and stop new fossil fuel power plants from being built,” says Hughes.

He emphasises that at this time in history the choice should be easy, ie to invest in clean, renewable energy and not the construction of new power plants that burn dirty fracked gas and cause climate change.

“This gas plant will increase New Zealand’s carbon emissions when we’re supposed to be reducing emissions,” says Hughes.

“We simply don’t need to burn more fossil fuels when there’s almost 4000MW of renewable generation consented and ready to be built, and smarter ways to use and conserve power.

“All New Zealanders deserve a say on this dirty gas project, but they won’t get that because only directly affected neighbours will be able to submit on the ‘limited notification’ consent application.”

The Green Party is asking people to sign an open letter to Nick Smith online at action.greens.org.nz

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