Australia's electricity is about to be greened-up big time - but not without a fight first. Laws to ensure that a fifth of energy comes from renewable sources by 2020 have been tabled in federal parliament. ...Power prices will rise to pay for the Renewable Energy Target (RET), which will be a huge boon to wind, solar and geothermal power. But there's a hurdle to be cleared: whether big polluters should be largely exempted from paying for it.

More turbines could be spinning on the Tararua Ranges. NZ Windfarms has applied to expand the Te Rere Hau wind farm, asking for consent for another 56 turbines.

Changes in the exchange rate are making wind farm proposals uneconomic and relying on them to meet the growing demand for electricity in this country was unwise ...The recent substantial drop in the New Zealand dollar had "adversely affected the commercial viability of all proposed wind farms and would have made many, if not all, uneconomic at the current exchange rate," economic consultant Philip Donnelly, of Christchurch, said.

Approval has been given for Australia's biggest wind farm to be built near Broken Hill in New South Wales. Almost 600 turbines will generate enough electricity for more than 400,000 homes. A forest of giant turbines will emerge from the red dust of the Australian outback near the isolated town famous for its lead and zinc mining.

Contact Energy's warning underlying profit this year could fall up to 33 per cent because of lower wholesale electricity prices came with a sting - those prices could stay low all year. Contact Energy's shares fell 13c to $5.67 continuing a slide of more than 20 per cent this year. ...In January, Contact warned the unusual mix of operating conditions would see earnings before interest, tax, deprecation, amortisation and financial instruments would fall by 20-23 per cent for the full year.

Palmerston North is spearheading a push to create national guidelines for wind farms. The city council has gathered the support of nine councils around the country, and will next month ask Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) to put the issue on its agenda.

Australian's biggest wind farm with almost 600 turbines, is to be be built in far western New South Wales. State Government approval has been given for the project at Silverton, near Broken Hill. ...NSW had approved 14 wind farms with a total capacity output of 2486 megawatts since 2005, Mr Rees said.

Plans for a small wind farm on one of the Clutha district's highest points will be reactivated by the project's new Central Otago-based owners. Pioneer Generation recently bought the Mt Stuart project from original developers NZ Windfarms Ltd for an undisclosed sum and will consult submitters to the original proposal before it continues with the consent process.

The 128th turbine has been erected at the Waubra Wind Farm, marking the end of construction. But it will be at least another month before the wind farm is in full swing, with Acciona Energy hoping to have the facility commissioned in late July. Already, more than half of the turbines are operating and delivering electricity back to the grid.

Opponents of Contact Energy's proposed $1 billion-plus wind farm in Waikato are considering legal action to force the power company back before a board looking at the application. Contact won a year's adjournment to its application after deciding it had more work to do.

Origin Energy has submitted its draft planning application for Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, west of Ballarat. The proposal is for a 242-turbine wind farm, with a capital cost of $1.4 billion.

Ewan Carr Upland Landscape Protection Society trustee Ewan Carr hopes the organisation can "rise from the ashes" despite it being placed into liquidation. Mr Carr told the Otago Daily Times he hoped the incorporated society could be taken out of liquidation, depending on the generosity of members. ...Mr Carr said the society had about 250 members.

Rules that could forbid the construction of windfarms in "iconic" areas and stipulate the distance turbines must be from houses are being mooted by a North Island council that is gathering support around the country. The Palmerston North City Council, which has granted consent for five windfarms over the past decade, is calling for a remit on the windfarm debate to be tabled at this year's Local Government New Zealand national conference in Christchurch. The council wants the Government to develop a national policy statement on the matter.

Contact Energy has succeeded in its bid for a 12-month delay to hearings into its proposed 180-turbine wind farm near Raglan in Waikato.

Hastings will join Palmerston North and Waikato in lobbying for national guidelines on the siting of wind farms. Both Palmerston North and Hastings have come under pressure in recent years from power generators wanting to put large numbers of turbines on hilltops, and both expect more applications.

The board of inquiry considering the proposed 180-turbine Waikato wind farm north of Raglan could take more than a week to decide whether to approve an adjournment to the hearing. Applicants Contact Wind and Contact Energy yesterday sought an adjournment until May 3, 2010, to address increasingly pointed board comments about the practicability of the $1 billion Hauauru ma raki project.

The power company yesterday asked the board of inquiry to postpone the hearing on its planned 180-turbine wind farm near Raglan for at least a year so it can do more research and site work. Contact last August welcomed the Labour Government's decision to use the call-in powers of the Resource Management Act and have the application considered by a board as important in removing "unnecessary delays" for a project of national significance.

Contact Energy is putting the brakes on its planned $1.2 billion wind farm on the Waikato coast. ...The board of inquiry hearing has been under way at the Te Akau Town Hall for two weeks now, but today Contact will seek permission to have the process adjourned for 12 months while it gathers more information.

Opponents of Contact Energy's proposed 180-turbine wind farm on Waikato's west coast have claimed a victory after the electricity firm said it would seek an adjournment of the hearing into the controversial project. Contact will ask for a 12-month adjournment at Monday's board of inquiry proceedings so it can carry out more research, geotechnical assessments and surveying work.

Waikato District Council wants the Government to introduce national standards for the siting of wind farms. At its policy committee meeting this week, the council signed up to support a Palmerston North City Council remit to the Local Government New Zealand annual meeting which would call upon the Government to develop a "national policy statement" on where and how wind farms could be built.