by frog
It’s a bit lazy, but Kevin Hague’s press release says all I want to say!
The Green Party’s West Coast-based MP Kevin Hague today lodged a submission in support of a proposed hydro scheme on the Stockton Plateau.
Hydro Developments Ltd has applied for consent to divert water contaminated by mining from the Stockton area into reservoirs and tunnels that will use a 500m drop to sea level to generate approximately 240 gigawatt hours per year.
“The scheme can power more than 30,000 homes,” Hague says “and the Stockton Plateau is heavily modified by coal mining operations so the reservoirs have a small ecological footprint. Diverting polluted water will actually improve water quality in the Ngakawau River.
“This is in contrast to Meridian Energy’s proposed hydro dam in the nearby Mokihinui River that would irreversibly impact rainforest and river species. The Stockton scheme shows we don’t need to damn the Mokihinui to satisfy local electricity demand. It completely undermines Meridian’s argument.
“Damning the Mokihinui in the face of environmentally-positive alternatives like the Stockton proposal would be bloody-minded vandalism. Meridian should withdraw its proposal which is now patently unnecessary and I invite West Coast Tasman MP Chris Auchinvole to join me in this call.”
While supporting sustainable renewable generation like Stockton Hydro, the Green Party also reiterates the urgent need to pursue energy conservation and efficiency measures such as the $1 billion fund for insulation and clean heating recently dumped by the National Government, Hague says.
“Our submission does identify some aspects of the Stockton Hydro that need to be addressed such as avoiding any risk to Hectors dolphins from discharging the scheme’s water into the sea.”
The beautiful Mokihinui River
Photo Credit: Q
Published in Environment & Resource Management by frog on Fri, January 30th, 2009
Tags: hydro, Kevin Hague, politics, stockton, West Coast
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
Stockton would be an even more attractive option if they had plans to treat the mining contaminated water after its run through their power station but before it hits the sea. Do they?
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Hi Frog
This sounds great. A question – do you know how many homes Meridian’s proposed scheme will power?
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See an earlier blog:
http://blog.greens.org.nz/2008/12/01/the-writings-on-the-dam-wall/
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Thanks. So this hydro scheme would generate less power than the Meridian scheme. Does anybody know what the need is? And the comparable costs?
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Sorry just re-read the release where it says the Stockton option would meet local electricity needs. How do the $ stack up?
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kiwinuke, Kevin makes the point in his submission that it is far preferable to avoid or remedy the pollutants in the water prior to discharging and relying on the dilution effect of adding unpolluted freshwater and dispersal in the sea. This applies to both acidity and chemicals. Some of the contamination is legacy of mining, but some comes from present-day mining. Avoiding and remedying the pollution should be required as part of the cost of mining, but generally isn’t.
Skinman, Kevin’s submission notes that while the Stockton:Mokihinui comparison is 25MW:85-100MW in terms of peak capacity, the output is much more comparable at 240GWH:360-410GWH. This is because Stockton can run at capacity 24-7, whereas Moki is more rain dependent. In terms of economics, both companies must believe they are financially viable proposals. What the Greens are saying is that it is also important to weight the ‘price’ of sacrificing a wild river compared to the value in cleaning up the Ngakawau?
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If I have read the Stockton proposal correctly, they are talking of 25MW continuous output but designing it to be able to produce 50MW to take advantage of peak inflows. I think that if the plant can produce 50MW, then they should produce 50MW at times of peak demand and scale it back below 25MW at times of lower demand.
Trevor.
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Depending on the nature of the pollutants, the folks engineering the dam and turbines might have something to say about what is in the water. You don’t want to reduce the life of the turbines.
BJ
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Electricity is sold in NZ via a country-wide market, meaning (a) the power generated isn’t for exclusive local use; power generated goes into the pool and may be “used” (ie paid for) by customers anywhere in the country, and (b) it provides power only when someone wants to buy it, so the plant output in reality will be anywhere from 0MW to 50MW.
The pseudo-market for power in NZ produces many strange situations…
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What you say is essentially true dbuckley, but local/regional constraints in the national grid mean that prices vary dramatically around the country. The West Coast does pay a premium because it is poorly (albeit adequately) served by the grid. Building local generation does mean a reduction in price for West Coasters, because the grid restraint becomes less of an issue. In some cases these smaller generators are embedded within the local lines network and the national scene has little bearing on the sale of the juice. I don’t know if that’s the case for the Stockton Plateau but given its small size it may well be embedded.
It is indeed a pseudo market though – particularly with generators being retailers to the extent they are…
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Me – I’m just happy to have the Green Party supporting a Hydro proposal.
I know this one is less contrentious than the others, but its a start.
Given that Peak Oil and CNG pricing will impact our electricty generation large, we need every non-thermal KWH we can get, and being part of the solution is a much better look than being part of the problem
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We’ve done our dash with big hydro in this country. The remaining big rivers have an ecological value greater than their economic one, in my opinion. There are , however, heaps of medium and small size hydro opportunities all around the country that we should be pursuing for the very reasons you suggest, dbuckley.
We will, however, continue to pick and chose based on our environmental values.
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“We will, however, continue to pick and chose based on our environmental values”
Interesting…. would you be willing to share the equation…?
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Values are sometimes numeric, sometimes not and so are not always quantifiable and subject to cold equations. The value of preserving the endangered eels of the Mokihinui River are nigh on impossible to quantify, but nonetheless we see them as having more value than the meagre output of the scheme. Extinction of a river, as an eel, is not reversible.
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Solid Energy are objecting…
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/5778478/hydro-scheme-cited-as-threat-to-stockton-mine/
Trevor.
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Good news – HDL have approval from West Coast Regional Council:
http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/6604380/buller-hydro-scheme-gets-the-go-ahead/
Trevor.
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