New Zealand court blows over plan for Southern Hemisphere's largest wind farm

A plan to develop an NZ$2bn (US$1.4bn, £0.83bn), 630MW wind farm in southern New Zealand has been quashed in a potentially landmark ruling by the country's Environment Court, on the grounds that it would ruin the surrounding landscape.

In handing down the judgment last week, the court questioned whether alternative sites had been considered for the 176-turbine project planned for Lammermoor Range, located in the inland Central Otago region.

Had it gone ahead, it would have been the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, with enough capacity to power every household in New Zealand's South Island - home to just over one million residents.

"Despite the potentially large contribution of energy to the national grid, it would be inappropriate to put a huge wind farm in such a nationally important natural landscape," the court said in its ruling.

About 17,950 people live in scenic Central Otago, which features mountain ranges, rocky gorges and wine-producing vineyards that are a major draw for tourists. The idea of adding 160-metre tall wind turbines and 12-metre wide access roads to the landscape – as specified in the project plan – stirred considerable opposition from local residents.

They collectively filed an appeal in the Environment Court after consent for the development, dubbed Project Hayes, was granted in 2006 and 2007. The plan was drawn up by New Zealand's largest electricity supplier, Meridian Energy, which provides about 30 per cent of the nation's power needs.

Meridian, which spent about NZ$10m (£4.38m) in planning and preliminary work for the project, said it may appeal against the ruling.

Central Otago mayor Malcolm Macpherson said the ruling "might set one of the most important precedents for Central Otago, Otago and New Zealand". He told the Otago Daily Times over the weekend: "I wonder whether this is the end of big renewables of any sort, in this part of the country, at least."

His comments were echoed by Fraser Clark, chief executive of the New Zealand Wind Energy Association – an industry group that advocates wind power projects.

"This has the potential to create a far greater loss for all of New Zealand by hindering the development of other renewable energy schemes," said Clark. " New Zealanders value renewable energy, but this decision has the potential to make it more difficult for other renewable projects to achieve consent."

The advocacy group believes that the court ruling has failed to strike a balance between environmental and economical interests.