10 reasons why Project Onslow is a bad idea

Is the project at Lake Onslow a nation-building opportunity or a costly boondoggle? (Image: Supplied)

Fri, 10 Jun 2022

The Project Onslow pumped hydro idea is seductively simple and is captivating the public imagination because of that.It takes an existing “man-made” lake in Central Otago, enlarges it, adds a 24-kilometre tunnel and some pumping stations and somewhere between $4 billion and $8 billion later and in 15 years’ time (fingers crossed), there’s a renewable energy solution in place for New Zealand’s regular “dry winter” problem.It seems to supply a silver bullet answer to the one thing that its boosters and cr...

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