No decision on tunnel

Meridian Energy is on target with its timetable for a new hydro-electricity scheme on the lower Waitaki River, but its board of directors still has to make the decision to build the $1 billion project.

Yesterday, about 70 people at an Oamaru business breakfast heard about progress on the north bank tunnel concept power scheme from Meridian's water infrastructure development manager Nick Eldred.

The breakfast was fully booked, indicating the high level of interest in the project among business people in North Otago.

Meridian has received interim approval of water resource consents from the Environment Court for the new scheme, subject to some issues being settled.

At present it is carrying out an engineering pre-feasibility study to prepare to apply for land use resource consents from the Waimate District Council to build and operate the scheme.

Part of the study involved drilling 28 holes along the tunnel route.

That study is looking in more detail at the engineering and geotechnical aspects, as well as firming up a cost estimate for the Meridian board to consider going to the next step.

Mr Eldred said the board had three options when it finally decided - not to build it, to delay construction or build as soon as possible.

If Meridian decided to build the scheme - a 34km-long tunnel, up to 12m wide, between the Waitaki dam and Stonewall, taking up to 260cumecs of water from Lake Waitaki with one powerhouse generating between 1100 and 1400GWh a year - the earliest construction would start was 2013.

The scheme could then be commissioned between 2016 and 2018.