Meridian granted water consents for hydro tunnel

9 October 2009


The company’s North Bank Tunnel Concept is a hydro generation proposal taking water from behind the Waitaki dam and discharging it back into the Waitaki river about 34km downstream near Stonewall. It will generate an average of between 1100GWh and 1400 GWH of electricity annually,

The decision to approve water-only consents for water take, use and discharge, follows an 11 day Environment Court hearing in June and July this year which occurred as a result of appeals of the Environment Canterbury consents granted in 2008. The decision says consent will be granted subject to further work to address management and mitigation issues in the areas of wetlands and braided river birds.

To further advance the project Meridian will also have to apply for land-use and construction consents for the building of the tunnel and power station. Obtaining these consents is expected to take several years.

Once all consents have been secured and a full feasibility engineering study has been completed, Meridian will be in a position to commit to the design and construction of the project. This is not likely to occur until at least 2012.




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