The state member for Burrinjuck, in central west NSW says the power to approve wind farm developments should be returned to local councils. Katrina Hodgkinson is calling for the NSW Government to hold a parliamentary inquiry into the planning requirements for wind farms as well as their effectiveness in conserving energy.

To make use of this clean [renewable] energy, we'll need more transmission lines that can transport power from one region to another and connect energy-­hungry cities with the remote areas where much of our renewable power is likely to be generated. We'll also need far smarter controls throughout the distribution system--technologies that can store extra electricity from wind farms in the batteries of plug-in hybrid cars, for example, or remotely turn power-hungry appliances on and off as the energy supply rises and falls. If these grid upgrades don't happen, new renewable-power projects could be stalled, because they would place unacceptable stresses on existing electrical systems.

Palmerston North City Council will likely oppose some turbines in the Turitea Wind Farm, despite being contractually involved with the power company, city mayor Jono Naylor said. ...The council was contracted to provide reserve land for most of the turbines, and the terms meant it would be unable to comment on those. But it would be free to submit on the turbines planned for private land.

The Environment Court has confirmed the resource consent conditions for the massive Mahinerangi Windfarm in Otago, despite high profile opposition from former All Black Anton Oliver and poet Brian Turner, says power company TrustPower. Opponents now have a chance to make submissions on a revised layout for the farm's turbines. The 200MW farm, which would be the largest in New Zealand, would overlook Lake Mahinerangi from the foothills of the Lammerlaw range, 40km west of Dunedin. ...TrustPower community relations manager Graeme Purches said the company would now assess the economic viability of the project, with a view to being in a position to proceed when economic conditions gelled.

The Turitea Wind Farm will be fast- tracked through the resource consent process after the Environment Minister said the Palmerston North City Council could not be impartial. Minister Nick Smith announced yesterday he was calling in Mighty River Power's proposed 131 turbine wind farm, sending it to a board of inquiry. He called it in because of the national significance of the project, he said.

The Hepburn Community Wind Park was meant to show what one community can achieve, and to lead the development of many such projects in Australia. However, three years after the push began to build the two-turbine mini wind farm, and four months after its sponsors began raising the capital to realise their dream, the idea hangs by a thread. Investment dollars have dried up as small investors keep a tight hold of their cash and large investors wait to be convinced that the project is viable.

The High Court has ordered an Otago protest group to pay nearly $50,000 in costs after it failed to overturn resource consents for two Central Otago wind farms. Justice John Fogarty on Thursday ordered the Upland Landscape Protection Society Incorporated to pay $49,788.21 separated over five defendants.

An investment bank that has sold a wind farm proposal in Queensland's South Burnett says it is confident the new owner will bring the project to fruition. The South African-based Investec Bank has sold the Coopers Gap project, and another in Victoria, to energy company AGL for $14 million.

The islands of Wangerooge and Borkum had sought to keep the future windparks, with towers rising 90 metres above the sea, out of their backyard. They argued that tourists might be put off by the view and that ships colliding with the windmills could cause huge oil spills.

Unison has applied to add 34 turbines to 15 already approved for a site on Te Waka Range near Te Pohue, on the Napier-Taupo Road. The application, being heard in Napier, began this week. Unison tried last year to get consent for an extra 37 turbines, saying the original 15 were not viable. Another firm, Hawke's Bay Windfarms, already has consent to erect 75 turbines nearby and the Environment Court said the cumulative effect of turbines on the skyline west of Hawke's Bay would be excessive.

Wind energy specialist NZ Windfarms is a step closer to achieving positive cashflow from operations after buying out its joint venture partners in the Te Rere Hau wind farm project on the Tararua ranges. The company announced this morning it has bought the 50% share held by NP Power and Babcock & Brown WindPower for $20.1 million in cash, through its subsidiary NZWL-TRH. The purchase brings the Te Rere Hau Wind farm under complete ownership of NZ Windfarms.

Plans to notify the Turitea wind farm have stalled again following news a call-in decision is imminent. After announcing last month that Mighty River Power's application for the 131-turbine wind farm would be publicly notified, despite still waiting on a ministerial call-in decision, Palmerston North City Council has back-pedalled after news Environment Minister Nick Smith plans to announce his decision in the next week.

"Many of these engineering problems have been known for years, but when it comes to putting them into practice developers have encountered difficulties, especially when far offshore and when the weather is bad," said Heiko Stohlmeyer, a renewable-energy financing consultant at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in an interview. "Enormous" challenges in getting equipment to areas of the sea where windfarms are being built and then servicing the equipment are presenting obstacles for the projects, Stohlmeyer said.

A two kilometre buffer zone from houses would make the proposed Glen Innes Windfarm unviable according to the project's developers, however they say they are hopeful of negotiating a compromise with critics of the project.

The Environment Court has given the go-ahead for Wel Networks' Te Uku wind farm to proceed. The consent order allowing the wind farm follows the successful mediation of outstanding appeals - and the fact ardent wind farm opponent Sean Cox has withdrawn from the fray on health grounds. Mitigation measures agreed by the parties included the formation of a community liaison group, alleviation of some visual concerns, and the relocation of the controversial turbine 29 near Hidden Valley.

Three parties appealed the granting of resource consents for the wind farm; but these have now been settled after agreement over ways to mitigate their concerns. Measures includes the setting up of a community liaison group.

New Zealand Windfarms Ltd has lodged an application to build a small wind farm on one of the highest points in the Clutha district after spending most of this year investigating the site. The Clutha District Council received the resource consent application last Friday and it appears it will not be publicly notified as the company already has permission from the only affected landowner.

Investment firm Babcock & Brown says it is in dispute with a bank which holds a deposit of a material amount relating to the release of that deposit. Babcock requested a trading halt in its shares today, saying it expected the halt to remain until the dispute was resolved. The owner of wind farms and properties has lost 99% of its market value this year as it struggles to sell assets to repay $3.1 billion in loans.

Details of a wind farm on rugged hills southwest of Brooklyn have been made public. The 28-turbine proposal for Long Gully will be discussed at public meetings in Wellington this week before a resource consent application is lodged with the city council in mid-December. State-owned Mighty River Power would own and operate the farm and Windflow Technology, a Christchurch turbine manufacturer, would construct it.

Babcock & Brown Ltd (B&B)has sold wind farm assets held by B&B Wind Partners in Portugal for $2.23 billion. The assets were sold to a consortium of investors led by Magnum Capital. B&B said it would earn $285.82 million in net proceeds from the sale of its 50% share of the portfolio. This represents a price above book value and will be used to pay down project debt secured against European wind assets, it added.