Ocean Energy The Right Choice For New Zealand  

Stuff.co.nz has an article on various ocean energy projects proposed for New Zealand - Marine energy the 'perfect' plan.

Henry Jeffrey, from Edinburgh University, has been in Wellington with a British renewable energy delegation. Wellington is the site of a proposed marine energy project by Neptune Power that could result in a test turbine being underwater in Cook Strait by year's end.

Mr Jeffrey said that, in Britain, marine energy was moving from the drawing board to reality. "In the past 12 months there's been a step change. Now when people give presentations on marine energy, rather than showing artists' impressions, they're showing photographs of hardware in the water connected to the grid."

Mr Jeffrey said that, although New Zealand was behind on marine energy generation, that should change soon. He sits on the Marine Energy Deployment Fund, which offers grants of up to $2 million a year over four years for marine energy projects. Last year Auckland company Crest Energy was given a $1.85 million grant to generate electricity from the tides in Kaipara Harbour. ...

Marine energy projects are slowly taking shape. Christchurch company Neptune Power has consent from Greater Wellington regional council to place a trial turbine 95 metres below the surface, 4.5 kilometres off Sinclair Head, on Wellington's southwest coast. It hopes to have the turbine going by the end of the year, powering 400 Wellington houses through Vector's Wellington grid. ...

Cook Strait tides could generate 7000 megawatts of electricity almost equal to New Zealand's annual production.