TrustPower has four fully consented projects planned in the South Island: Kaiwera Downs, Arnold River, Mahinerangi and Wairau.
While Wairau is the only one with irrigation attached (Arnold is on the West Coast, and the other two are wind schemes) TrustPower community relations manager Graeme Purches says all are impacted by the HVDC charging regime which dictates South Island generators pay the operational costs of the HVDC, despite it serving North Island consumers.
"This debate has been going on for years," Purches told Rural News.
"The Electricity Authority had a working group looking at it and the majority recommendation was these charges should not apply to new projects and be phased out for existing generation over a 10 year period. But there were dissenting voices in the working group and the EA has now decided to do more homework on it."
It means another year of uncertainty about whether HVDC charges will apply, and delays in the Wairau Valley.
"In that environment, we are not going to be building anything in the South Island anytime soon. Having spent millions of dollars getting resource consents for projects and have them just sitting there is frustrating."
Steve MacKenzie, a farmer and agricultural contractor with a 63ha block near Blenheim, is chairman of Wairau Valley Water Enhancement, the irrigation company set up in 2001 to explore the options. He hopes Trustpower can "sort out the commercial issues shortly" so the power and irrigation scheme build can start.
"The community won't go ahead with an irrigation scheme while this is hanging in the air. They've given us instructions to wait for TrustPower but it's taken longer than we envisaged. Once this scheme is up and running it will be a tremendous asset to the district."
Purches says it's unfortunate progress can't be made "because right now, there's never been a better time. I predict a repeat of 2001 in about five years: there will be a dry year in the South Island, an electricity crisis in which prices go through the roof, the hydro lakes will be low and people will say, 'how did we get to this point again?' "
There has been some opposition to the projects, in the Wairau Valley in particular, where some landowners opposed it over environmental and safety concerns.
But the majority of residents are positive about the benefits of increased irrigation in the area, says Purches.
"A couple of farms said they would never sell, but out of 66 properties, more than 50% have signed up. There's a group who said, 'once you've got your resource consents come and talk to us' and we've been doing that.
"There's a number for sale, and at least one of the four problematic ones I know of where the landowner is saying 'over my dead body,' is saying behind the scenes 'this is what it's worth'."
In fairness to landowners who have signed reasonable deals, he says there's "no way" TrustPower will pay several times the valuation of other properties.
"One of those properties we can do without and a couple we can by-pass, but it will cost us money. If the worst comes to the worst, there's acquiring authority but we've consistently said it won't come to that.
