11. Dr ASHRAF CHOUDHARY (Labour) Link to this
to the Minister of Energy
What reports, if any, has he received on plans to build new thermal generation plants?
Hon DAVID PARKER (Minister of Energy) Link to this
The first report is, of course, the one that was in the Press in the last couple of days that Meridian Energy is now disavowing and is saying is incorrect. The second report was in the on 11 February, when Mighty River Power said that in light of the Government’s energy and climate change policies it is unlikely to go ahead with the Marsden B coal-fired plant.
Dr Ashraf Choudhary Link to this
Has the Minister received any other reports on approaches to building new thermal generation plants?
In contrast with this Government’s consistent opposition to new coal-fired plants, I have received a report that another party welcomed the Marsden B facility at its inception. That party said it “welcomes the new coal-fired Marsden B …”, and said: “the development of this generation is exactly what New Zealand needs”. That party’s thermal energy spokesperson went so far as to say: “The Government must ensure that it doesn’t let the RMA sink this desperately needed piece of generation.” The party that was promoting coal generation was, of course, the National Party.
Gerry BrownleeHow can the Minister argue that requiring State generators to abandon coal and progressively get out of other forms of thermal generation will in fact give a price advantage to privately owned generators when he goes around the country saying that renewable sources are the cheapest form of generation—is it that for the private sector coal is cheap or is it that for the Government it is expensive—and how does that give consumers any confidence, given that the Government is such a big player in generation and ultimately sets the price that households pay?
That is not what I said. I said it is important that the policy settings are right to dissuade the building of coal-fired generators, be they for the private sector or for the State-owned sector. It is clear that the Government’s climate change policy is having the effect of dissuading anyone from building new coal-fired power stations.