11 February 2011

Mighty River Power General Manager for Development, Mark Trigg, today welcomed the draft decision of the Board of Inquiry to award the Company resource consents for the construction and operation of a wind farm at Turitea, east of Palmerston North.

“This is a world-class wind resource. The draft decision removes one uncertainty around the project and allows us to move forward with assessing detailed technical and commercial considerations for the draft wind farm consent.”

However, Mr Trigg said that the draft consent allowed for 61 turbines, significantly fewer than the 105 applied for by the Company, and this will adversely impact on the project economics.

“We now need to work through the detail of the decision - noting that it is a 450 page document - and consider next steps. The next milestone is the Board of Inquiry’s final decision.” said Mr Trigg.

“If this draft decision is confirmed, it means we have an opportunity to respond more quickly as market conditions allow, taking into account the changed economics of a much smaller project. With the Board of Inquiry decision in hand, the lead-time to build the wind farm at Turitea is now less than two years from the point that the Company determines that market conditions support a decision to invest.”

ENDS

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