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Scott Base in the Antarctic could become home to New Zealand's southernmost wind farm.
As controversy swirls over the prospect of wind farms in the hills near Wellington and Dunedin, Scott Base is exploring the possibility of harnessing the continent's extreme winds for its own power needs.
Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson said the idea was being considered as a way to reduce fossil fuel consumption at Scott Base and Antarctic field camps by 20 per cent.
"It's very much in the exploratory stages at the moment of how we might use wind technology and alternative energy to lower our environmental footprint in Antarctica," he told the Southland Times.
"The huge benefit is the cost of getting fuel to Antarctica and the ability to work with the United States on a possible solution."
Significant energy savings had already been made at the New Zealand base by converting to gas cooking and energy efficient lighting, lowering base heating and implementing new building techniques.
About three years ago two wind turbines were installed at Australia's Mawson Station in Antarctica. Diesel consumption there had since dropped by 30 per cent.
Meanwhile, an Otago wind farm hearing revealed land has been earmarked for another 113 turbines as well as the 176 already proposed by Meridian Energy for its giant project on the Lammermoor Range.
The information was attached to a Contact Energy submission already presented to the Project Hayes wind farm hearing, but was not read publicly at the time. Central Otago District Council planning consultant David Whitney included the information in his closing report. It showed the 176 turbines proposed could be only stage one of the project.
- NZPA
