Otago pumped hydro a fanciful, rainbow project

Fri, 28 Aug 2020

The government’s plan for a pumped hydro scheme in Central Otago is “fanciful” and a costly “rainbow” project that will be abandoned within two years when it proves unworkable, a pre-election panel on energy policy heard Wednesday. Opportunities Party leader Geoff Simmons said the country does need to be thinking about long-term options to address dry-year risk in the electricity sector. But he questioned why the government needed to pursue its proposed $4 billion pumped hydro option at Lake Onslow given the pace renewable electricity costs...

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