Greenpeace welcomes plan for NZ's biggest wind farm

Auckland: Thursday 2 June 2005 -- Greenpeace today applauded Meridian Energy's plans for New Zealand's biggest wind farm, proposed near Wellington and called on Mighty River Power to follow suit, dump their plans for Marsden B coal-fired power station and develop only renewable energy sources.

"This wind farm would be a fantastic step towards reducing our greenhouse gas emissions and tackling the world's biggest threat - climate change," said Greenpeace climate campaigner Vanessa Atkinson. "The scale of this project demonstrates that wind energy can produce sizeable chunks of our electricity demand."

"The transition to renewable energy is absolutely vital. With scientists warning that we only have 10 years to tackle climate change to avoid wide-scale ecological, economic and social disaster, we can no longer afford to wait.

"West Wind is the energy project of the future. Dirty old climate-change causing coal belongs in the past and plans like Mighty River Power's Marsden B, should be thrown in the trash where they belong. Perhaps Mighty River Power should take a leaf out of Meridian's book and commit to only generating electricity from renewable sources," said Ms Atkinson.

Despite having one of the best wind energy resources on the planet, this country has lagged woefully behind in embracing the world's fastest growing energy sector.

To really drive renewable energy development the Government must create stronger incentives and policies and map out a long term sustainable energy strategy for the country.

New Zealand needs a diverse mix of renewable energy sources, including large projects such as West Wind, but also smaller distributed generation located close to demand, together with energy efficiency and conservation measures to form a truly sustainable energy system.

Greenpeace urges everyone who is concerned about climate change to put in a submission to Wellington Regional Council voicing support for the project.

Ends

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