Meridian Energy calls off Mt Munro resource agreement

New Zealand’s state owned electricity generator and retailer Meridian Energy has taken back the applications for resource agreement for its Mt Munro wind farm project.

The move follows difficulties faced by the company due to the flat demand for electricity in the region.

The company had filed the resource consent for the project in December 2011 with Horizons and Wellington regional councils as well as Tararua and Masterton district councils.

Meridian Energy had urged the councils during September 2012 to grant it more time to complete the additional work before the hearing that included four-seasons of bird monitoring in the vicinity of the proposed transmission line route.

Following the grant, the company has completed two seasons of bird monitoring on the wind farm site along with water quality monitoring and Cultural Values Assessments by local iwi.

According to the company, the current and forecast electricity market conditions reveal that it is not a good time to proceed with the project now.

Meridian Renewable Options manager Chris More said the company has made a decision to withdraw the Mt Munro consent applications because of the current flat demand for electricity, which means fewer new generation projects will be required in the short to medium term.

"Mt Munro remains an attractive project for Meridian," Chris added.

"Like other generators we recognise that the demand outlook for the next five years is probably flat to slightly declining."

Located in south of Eketahuna, the Mt Munro project is claimed to be a 20 turbine wind farm with 60MW production capacity.

The electricity generator will continue to monitor the situation and look for opportunities to review the project in case the market conditions improve.