Having just had consent declined for a $550 million wind farm near Dannevirke, Contact Energy has another fight on its hands over an even bigger project in the Waikato.

Contact has applied for consent to build a $1.2 billion 540-watt capacity wind farm with 150 turbines along the coast from Port Waikato to Raglan.

Not all renewable energy is equal under the government's new policy. The government has proposed guidelines for councils that will make it easier to develop wind and geothermal electricity generation, but is likely to block further use of New Zealand's hydro resources.

The new National Policy Statement on Renewable Generation will require local government to consider the benefits of renewable generation in achieving the government's energy goals when consenting projects and drawing up district and regional plans under the Resource Management Act.