The Matiri Project is a run-of-river hydroelectric scheme at Lake Matiri and the Matiri River in the

South Island The South Island ( , 'the waters of Pounamu, Greenstone') is the largest of the three major islands of New Zealand by surface area, the others being the smaller but more populous North Island and Stewart Island. It is bordered to the north by ...

of New Zealand. The project takes water from a series of intake weirs at Lake Matiri and pipes it through a 2.4 km long buried pipeline to a power station. The project was originally proposed by

New Zealand Energy Limited New Zealand Energy is a New Zealand electricity generation energy retailer company, servicing the Nelson, New Zealand, Nelson and Tasman District, Tasman Regions of the country. The company is based in Motueka, and generates their renewable hyd ...

, which applied for resource consent for a 4.6 MW station in August 2008. The scheme was opposed by environmentalists and kayakers some of whom were angry that the

resource consent A resource consent is the authorisation given to certain activities or uses of natural and physical resources required under the New Zealand Resource Management Act (the "RMA"). Some activities may either be specifically authorised by the RMA or ...

s were not notified nationwide. The proposal was approved and it included a concession granted by the Department of Conservation to build structures on public land.

Forest and Bird Forest & Bird (), also known by its formal name as the Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society of New Zealand, is an environmental organisation specialising in the protection and conservation biology, conservation of New Zealand's indigenous F ...

did not see that there would be any conservation gain in giving the approval. The development rights were purchased by Pioneer Energy in 2014. Construction began in 2018. Construction was delayed by a slip and by the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and the scheme was finally commissioned in December 2020. Ownership was transferred to the Southern Generation partnership on completion.

References

Hydroelectricity in New Zealand Hydroelectric power stations in New Zealand {{Tasman-geo-stub

See also

References