Critics warn Lake Onslow power scheme’s $4b price tag may balloon

Critics of the proposed Lake Onslow pumped hydro scheme are talking up its costs and warning of a possible blow-out to its speculated $4 billion price tag, even before a decision is made on whether to proceed with the project. But a dam safety expert says the detailed engineering investigations planned by the Government should reduce the risk of any surprises if the verdict comes back positive. Dan Forster, chairman of the New Zealand Society on Large Dams, says the cost of the potential project is likely to be highly dependent on the outcome of geological investigations now underway. A big factor would be whether local materials could be used to build the hydro schemes’ dams, or whether clay and rock would need to be trucked in. The Lake Onslow scheme would serve as a giant battery to help protect against hydro shortages during drought years and to, in effect, store highly-variable wind and solar generation for when it was needed. Enough water could be pumped uphill into its reservoir in a natural schist rock basin high in Central Otago to provide power equivalent to somewhere between five and 15 weeks’ worth of the entire country’s electricity demand, depending on its configuration… It will produce up to 2000MW when drawing down power, but is now expected to cost more than A$5b (NZ$5.4b) and would hold 350 gigawatt-hours of power, which would be less than a tenth of the expected power storage of Lake Onslow… The Government doesn’t expect to be in a position to make a final call on whether to press ahead with a detailed business case for the project until December… ”

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Source: Stuff, Tom Pullar-Strecker 05:00, Feb 20 2022

Why You Shouldn’t Put Light Rail in Tunnels

‘Emergency’ fast-track resource consent system could become permanent

“A fast-track resource management consent process could become a permanent legislative feature, says environment minister David Parker… A law was passed in 2020 to shorten timeframes and cut out many of the consultation and appeal processes in the Resource Management Act (RMA)… It was presented as an emergency measure to inject life into the economy when it was feared covid and the associated lockdown restrictions would strangle activity. As a result, it had a sunset clause… Now, minister Parker has indicated the fast-track could become a permanent feature of the resource management system after the government completes reform of the RMA… ‘Consideration will be given to whether some form of the fast-track system should be carried forward into the new system. If it is, there needs to be a person in authority taking the somewhat subjective decision of what projects ought – and ought not – to be able to use the fast-track process. “Currently those screening decisions are taken by the minister for the environment, but that may not be practical for the future, and other ideas are welcomed,’ Parker said… The law change had the support of National, but its MPs said it showed the flaws in the RMA that the minister could short-circuit the process and still believe he could retain the integrity of the resource and environmental management protections… The extension of the fast-track law last year was only opposed by the Greens in Parliament, but almost all the submitters on the law change were opposed. Among the concerns is that resource management consents and planning are meant to involve the communities they have an impact on and the process reduces that. There are also worries that it aggravates one of the problems with the RMA – the inability of the consent process to consider cumulative impacts… Most of the applications which have been placed on the fast-track process have been approved without too much public controversy…”

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Source: BusinessDesk, Ian Llewellyn, Mon, 07 Feb 2022 [Paid content]

The Environment Select Committee (Select Committee) has released its Report on the Exposure Draft of the Natural and Built Environments Bill (Bill).

The Environment Select Committee (Select Committee) has released its Report on the Exposure Draft of the Natural and Built Environments Bill (Bill). After considering more than 3,000 public submissions, the Select Committee has provided 37 recommendations to modify the Exposure Draft.

See the report.