Stewart Island running on diesel not a good look, mayor says

Wednesday, 3 March 2021

Land access and a lack of wind on Stewart Island have scuppered a wind turbine project. [File photo]

The Southland District mayor says it’s a bad look that Stewart Island is still reliant on diesel generators, after plans for wind turbines were canned.

A $3.16 million project backed by the Provincial Growth Fund was shelved this week, as land access became too much of a hurdle.

The idea of piggybacking a power line onto a proposed Antarctic data cable has been floated, but Southland District mayor Gary Tong would not wait around for that.

He wanted to find cheaper electricity prices for residents and a renewable energy source.

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The island’s generators use about 360,000 litres of diesel a year, for about 400 residents.

Island residents pay about 175 to 200 per cent of mainland electricity prices, the mayor said.

Given Stewart Island is mostly a National Park, a Dark Skies Sanctuary and was aiming to be predator free, running on diesel was not a good look, Tong said.

As well as land access issues, it materialised that there was not enough wind on the island, Tong said.

“The final nail was the wind readings.”

The project was in a pre-development design and feasibility study stage.

Putting three turbines, or possibly four, at the airport had been considered, but the structures would have been in the emergency flight path, Tong said.

Turbines could have replaced more than 40 per cent of the generators’ output.

Many people wanted the turbines, “there was not any ‘not in my backyard’ stuff”, Tong said.

Island resident Rakiura Herzhoff said the failure of the turbines project was not the end of searching for a solution.

It was disappointing, but renewable energy would have to be supported by diesel, he said.

A direct current power cable would now be investigated, even though the data centre developers had been contacted, Tong said.

The data centre was being developed by Hawaiki Cable founder Remi Galasso and CallPlus co-founder Malcolm Dick, who aimed to have the Datagrid project at North Makarewa operating in 2023 and would use power from Manapouri.

As well as the airport, another preferred option for turbines on the island had been on the Mamaku Point Conservation Reserve.

In December, reserve trustee Roy Thompson said the organisation had ruled out the forest as an option.

Some funds from the original $3.16m had been advanced from the Provincial Development Unit arm of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) to enable Southland District Council to carry out pre-development work. The remainder of the funding will be returned to central government.