Business View Oceania | March 2020

79 80 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA MARCH 2020 BUSINESS VIEW OCEANIA MARCH 2020 www.beca.com Strategic partners of MainPower for Mt Cass Wind Farm since 2006 #poweringasustainablefuture MA INPOWER NEW ZEALAND L IMI TED Scott Bennett, Mt. Cass Wind Farm Project Director, asserts, “One of the other benefits is due to the wind farm being built in a sensitive limestone ecology area. The Department of Conservation has an existing covenant area and we’re working with them to extend the area of land protected, including part of our wind farm, into a larger conservation management area of 127 hectares. The long-term benefit is that we’re actually going to improve the ecology of the area and protect the species that are up there by removing a lot of the pest animals and enabling the recovery of the native plants and protecting the sensitive habitat for geckos and skinks. There are a lot of opportunities for wildlife conservation.” There are four landowners, one of which is MainPower. The land on the MainPower section of the ridge, which is currently leased and farmed, will largely be put into a managed conservation area. That’s where the transition will happen. According to Bennett: “While the boundary will be deer fenced to exclude pests such as deer, pigs and goats, the interior areas of grassland will be stock fenced and grazed by sheep reducing the fire risk in the hot dry North Canterbury summers. The adjacent bush and shrubland, with pest management in place, will have the best opportunity for regeneration to thrive, particularly for rare species such as the limestone wheatgrass.” MainPower has always been very community oriented because of our ownership structure. “Consumers of North Canterbury are always top of mind when we’re making decisions,” says Kibblewhite. Last financial year we spent over $460,000 on community sponsorships and support across a range of areas. Priority is given to activities that promote energy efficiency and conservation, facilitate economic growth in North Canterbury, support environmental sustainability, and youth activities. Through our sponsorship work, MainPower connects with a broad range of community groups and representatives in the region, forging strong ties holds MainPower on behalf of the consumers and profits from the wind farm will be widely returned to those consumers. The majority of the community will benefit directly through that return. The benefits will be multi-faceted – through the earnings of the Mt. Cass Wind Farm and through the ownership structure. There will likely be a reduction in the total cost of transmission from Transpower as MainPower transitions from an importer to exporter of electricity on and off the national transmission network. Another benefit from having generation in the MainPower network is that it literally provides resilience. And there’s also the possibility for tourist and recreational opportunities created by the wind farm as a destination. In addition, Mt Cass Wind Farm is exploring options for retailing a portion of electricity generated through an associated entity, potentially leading to reduced wholesale prices for some of the larger consumers on the network.