The Government predicts that its new national policy statement (NPS) which will guide the country's local councils in future decisions on resource consents for renewable electricity generation has a potential net benefit of $5.6 million.
The NPS requires all councils to make provision in their policy statements and plans for developing, operating, maintaining and upgrading renewable electricity generation, and will take effect from May 13.
It will mean that national benefits of renewable electricity generation must be taken into account when councils are making resource consent decisions.
Environment Minister Nick Smith said yesterday that "more consistent and pragmatic rules" would boost investment in electricity generation from wind, geothermal, hydro, and tidal power.
And Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority chief executive Mike Underhill last night said that an increase in the renewable electricity supply would ensure diversity in generation, boosting security of supply and electricity system resilience.
"We look forward to seeing these benefits recognised through local plans," Mr Underhill said. "Renewable electricity is good for the economy and good for the environment."
Dr Smith told the Wind Energy Association's annual conference that the nation's greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation had soared 122 percent since 1990 — mainly because of increased use of fossil-fuel energy.
The Government had set targets of 90 percent of electricity coming from "renewable" sources by 2025 and a 50 percent reduction in the nation's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Last year 74 percent of electricity was from renewable sources — mostly hydro generation .
Dr Smith claimed that policies "failed badly" during the past decade when coal-generated power doubled and new gas and diesel plants were built.
"The Government is determined that New Zealand better utilises its extensive wind, geothermal, hydro and tidal energy resources," Dr Smith told the conference in Wellington.
The NPS is a planning document under the Resource Management Act that the Government can use to steer local councils: their own policy statements and plans have to fall into line.
Regional councils will have to adapt their policy statements within 24 months, and decision-makers on resource consents — including commissioners and the Environment Court — will have to take the NPS into account.
Issues that could be included are methods of assessing landscape, wind turbine noise, environmental performance standards for wind farms, and measures to support small-scale renewable electricity generation.
The NPS is markedly different to recommendations originally made to Dr Smith: changes were made for reasons including developments in policy, a need for consistency, or potential issues with policies.
The Government said that recommendations that a specific rule for wind turbines be created on the basis of landscape assessment was dropped because of cost implications for councils and a possible "backlash" against wind energy due to the prescriptive nature of the approach.
Other work was under way to develop methods for consistent landscape assessment.
The Environment Court initially declined consent for a $2 billion 176-turbine windfarm in Central Otago's Lammermoor Range, after high-profile celebrities such as All Black Anton Oliver, artist Grahame Sydney and poet laureate Brian Turner protested the aesthetic impact on tussock landscapes. But Meridian Energy last year successfully appealed the court's decision.
