Greenpeace activists board coal ship in climate protest

Greenpeace activists said yesterday they had boarded a coal ship at Port Tauranga to attract public attention to the climate change debate.

The 187m ship Almar was carrying the first imports of coal for Genesis' Huntly power station, to provide extra electricity this winter.

Greenpeace climbers hung a banner off the ship's side which read "Coal Cooks the Climate", and floated a line of 10 large windmills beside the ship to symbolise an alternative source of energy.

Greenpeace is calling for the Government to develop a strategy for 100 per cent renewable energy by 2020.

Genesis has faced criticism this winter for not ensuring it had sufficient reserves of coal on hand for the 1000MW Huntly station to make up hydro-generation shortfalls. On June 4, Genesis chief executive Murray Jackson said it was working with Ports of Tauranga, Tranz Rail and Solid Energy "on putting a facility together that would enable us to supplement local coals with South Island and Indonesian coals".

With a new contract for coal from Solid Energy and production from other local mines and imports, Huntly power station would be supplied with about 2 1/2 million tonnes of coal a year, and the energy equivalent of half a million tonnes of coal in gas supplies.

Mr Jackson said this was a significant change for the 1000MW station which ran on about 70 per cent gas and 30 per cent coal "a couple of years ago".

Until New Zealand electricity generator ECNZ was broken up, it used to prepare for winter each year by having coal beds in opencast mines uncovered, ready for extraction.

- NZPA