In a minute issued last week by the independent panel overseeing the application, it indicated it was likely to issue a draft condition in the second week of March.
Contact Energy had sought consent through the fast track consenting legislation for a 55-turbine wind farm in Slopedown, near Wyndham. It was turned down under Covid-19 fast track legislation in March last year.
The panel had asked for comments from interested parties just before Christmas and Contact Energy replied to those comments in the middle of January.
The panel said with these comments and response to other questions it now had sufficient information to make a decision. There was no need for a hearing.
In the timeline drafted at the start of the hearing last year, if the draft decision allowed the wind farm to go ahead, interested parties would have two weeks to make comments. Government ministers would also have the same amount of time to make comments on the decision.
Contact Energy would then have an opportunity to respond to the interested parties and government ministers. The panel would then have another 14 working days to finalise and release the final decision, set to be later next month.
