Case Studies on the Best Practices of Wind Energy Development in APEC Region
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Case Studies on the Best Practices of Wind Energy Development in APEC Region Energy Working Group November 2016 APEC Project: EWG 24 2015A Produced by Eric Pyle, New Zealand Asian Development College for Community Economy and Technology Chiang Mai Rajabhat University, Chiang Mai, Thailand Terry Surles, The United States Nguyen Huong Tra, Viet Nam Nguyen Duc Cuong, Viet Nam For Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat 35 Heng Mui Keng Terrace Singapore 119616 Tel: (65) 68919 600 Fax: (65) 68919 690 Email: [email protected] Website: www.apec.org © 2017 APEC Secretariat APEC#216-RE-01.25 This publication has been prepared with financial assistance from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and therefore in no way reflect the official opinions of APEC member economies nor Governments’ Ministries and agencies in APEC member economies. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Those research studies were undertaken with the full financial support of the Asia - Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum (APEC) under project EWG 24-2015A Case Studies on the Best Practices of Wind Energy Development in APEC Region. The authors are thankful to Ms Penelope Howarth (Program Director) and her assistant, Ms Norila Mohd Ali (Program Executive) at APEC Secretariat, who have very much helped and given us their support and assistance during the development of those study reports. The authors would like to thank the four APEC member economies including New Zealand; Thailand; the United States and Viet Nam who have provided great support to the researchers to complete the studies. Especially the information sharing with the wind industry in the four economies was invaluable for the researchers to have better understanding about the current state-of-play, opportunities and challenges for wind energy development in the region. Our high gratitude also goes to the Multilateral Trade Policy Department of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam, which is the main contact point to assist us in conducting the reports. The authors highly appreciate the cooperation of Ms. Pham Quynh Mai (Deputy Director General, Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam) and Ms. Vu Lien Huong (Director of General Affair Division, Multilateral Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Industry and Trade of Viet Nam) who are Project Overseers and have provided us a lot of support and timely guidance for matters related to APEC practices and procedures in compiling and completing the studies. 2 Case Study on The Development of the Wind Industry in New Zealand Report for APEC September 2016 Eric Pyle, CEO, NZ Wind Energy Association 3 Table of Contents Timeline of the wind industry in New Zealand ..................................................................... 6 Recommendations: ....................................................................................................................................... 9 The New Zealand electricity sector ...................................................................................... 11 An electrically weak power system ........................................................................................................ 13 The wholesale electricity market ............................................................................................................ 14 The policy and institutional setting ........................................................................................................ 16 Getting the industry started..................................................................................................................... 19 1970s and 80s – the early years ............................................................................................................... 19 The key ingredients .................................................................................................................................... 21 Collecting the data – detailed understanding of the wind resource in New Zealand ................. 21 Recommendations: Starting the industry ........................................................................................... 22 Getting the first few projects underway; successes and some learnings ....................................... 22 The Brooklyn wind turbine - The first commercial scale wind turbine in New Zealand; 1993 ......................................................................................................................................................................... 23 Learning from a failure – Baring Head and Te Uku ......................................................................... 25 Haunui – the first multi-turbine windfarm; 1996 .............................................................................. 26 Tararua 1 – the first large wind farm (48 turbines); 1999 ............................................................... 27 Te Apiti – the first wind farm using large turbines; signalling the market-driven switch from hydro to wind .............................................................................................................................................. 28 Gebbies Pass - The Windflow 500 turbine ........................................................................................... 30 Three phases; small, large and medium-scale development ............................................................ 31 A plan for the industry .............................................................................................................................. 32 Helping the industry learn and reducing costs ................................................................................... 32 Recommendations from the first few projects and the evolution of the wind industry in New Zealand ......................................................................................................................................................... 33 Grid and market integration................................................................................................. 34 Wind and the electricity market – new market rules to accommodate wind generation ......... 35 The tactical wind project .......................................................................................................................... 36 Wind and system security – the wind grid integration project ....................................................... 37 Recommendations – Market and grid integration ............................................................................. 48 Performance of windfarms.................................................................................................... 48 Case study: Wind keeps the lights on in New Zealand’s capital city ............................................ 49 Case study: Wind farms strengthening the grid at the distribution level ................................... 51 Recommendations – strengthening the grid and distribution systems .......................................... 51 Operations and maintenance – creating local jobs ............................................................................ 51 Case study: Ashurst Engineering .......................................................................................................... 52 Recommendations: Operations and maintenance ............................................................................. 52 Natural resource management and consenting (environmental planning) ...................... 53 Noise issues ................................................................................................................................................... 53 Wildlife issues – birds a key issue ........................................................................................................... 55 Landscape issues ......................................................................................................................................... 57 4 The New Zealand Wind Energy Association ....................................................................... 59 Evolution of the association ..................................................................................................................... 60 Case Study: The annual wind energy conference ............................................................................. 60 Recommendations ...................................................................................................................................... 64 Research ....................................................................................................................................................... 65 Summary and conclusion ...................................................................................................... 65 5 Structure of this report This report outlines the development of the wind industry in New Zealand. The structure of this report is as follows: • A timeline of the development of the wind industry in New Zealand. • An outline of the characteristics of New Zealand’s electricity system. Wind needs to be integrated into an electricity system. When considering how wind developed in New Zealand and the issues that have been addressed it is important to have a broad understanding of the electricity system. • Understanding how wind became recognised as being an effective source of generation