Business of blowouts: why windfarms buck the trend

Business of blowouts: why windfarms buck the trend
Windfarms can lock in fixed prices for their single biggest cost. (Image: NZME)
Oliver Lewis
When the Meridian project team relocated to Hawke’s Bay to construct the Harapaki windfarm, the second largest in the country, they joked about weekends drinking chardonnay in the east coast sun. “They’ve been a bit short-changed,” says Guy Waipara, general manager of development at the gentailer. Since the project began, it’s been hit by three ex-tropical cyclones. The most recent and most devastating, Cyclone Gabrielle, hit the east coast with a fury, cutting transport links, flooding a nearby subs...

More Infrastructure

Experts warn NZ: Australia's local rates cap led to financial crisis
Policy

Experts warn NZ: Australia's local rates cap led to financial crisis

Copying policy from across the Tasman could worsen infrastructure deficit.

Transport dominates investment intentions - Treasury
Policy

Transport dominates investment intentions - Treasury

NZTA forecast investments of $120b over the next 10 years, dwarfing other agencies.

Oliver Lewis 20 Nov 2024
ComCom confirms power bill hike
Infrastructure

ComCom confirms power bill hike

Average household power bill to increase by $10 a month from next April.

Ian Llewellyn 20 Nov 2024
The case for concrete roads
Infrastructure

The case for concrete roads

NZTA doesn't use them, but new report suggests their whole-of-life cost is cheaper.

Oliver Lewis 20 Nov 2024