Wairau Hydro Scheme facts for kids

The Wairau Hydro Scheme is a big plan to make electricity using the power of water. This type of project is called hydroelectric. It was suggested by a company named TrustPower. The project would be built on the Wairau River in a place called Marlborough, New Zealand.

This plan involves changing how the river flows. It would send about 60% of the river's water through long canals, which would be about 49 kilometers (30 miles) long. The goal is to create up to 70 megawatts (94,000 hp) of electricity. Building this project was estimated to cost around $280 million.

Getting Permission for the Project

For big projects like the Wairau Hydro Scheme, companies need special permission from the government. These permissions are called resource consents. They make sure the project follows rules about the environment and how land is used.

TrustPower received these important permissions in 2008. However, some people were not happy with this decision. They took their concerns to the Environment Court. This court is like a special judge for cases about the environment. In 2010, the Environment Court looked at all the information and decided that the project could go ahead.

Why the Project Was Paused

Even though TrustPower had permission, they decided to put the project on hold in 2012. There were two main reasons for this. First, the price of electricity was quite low at that time. This meant it would be harder to make enough money from selling the power. Second, the costs of building the project were going up. Because of these reasons, it wasn't the best time for TrustPower to start building the Wairau Hydro Scheme.