First stage of NZ s largest wind farm to be switched on in October after year-long delay Newshub 8/05/2021 Alexa Cook
First stage of NZ s largest wind farm to be switched on in October after year-long delay
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The first stage of New Zealand s largest wind farm is set to be switched on in October, a year later than planned.
Construction of Mercury s Turitea Wind Farm started 18 months ago, and it s not been without its challenges.
Looking more like a UFO than a wind turbine - the giant 55-metre blades are carried one-by-one up the Tararua Ranges.
Towering over buildings and trees, it s a sight worth staying up late for.
Construction of a new road to by-pass an s-bend on the Pahīatua Track had to be abandoned after a large land slip. Mercury generation development manager Dennis Radich said he was pleased Vestas was making progress on a new route. “I’m looking forward to this being resolved, and seeing blades coming in the gate.” A Vestas spokesman said negotiations had been complex, involving the Palmerston North City Council, Horizons Regional Council, Tilt, NZ Windfarms and landowners. The blades would travel on over-dimensional trailers from Rangitīkei St, Keith St and New Plymouth along State Highway 3 to Ashhurst, across the Manawatū River bridge, along State Highway 57 and up Centre Rd.
Wind turbine towers and nacelles are in place at Turitea awaiting the rotor hubs and blades. When Mercury’s $465m, 60-turbine Turitea wind farm is complete, that will rise to half of the nation’s wind power. It’s a huge contribution but, even so, wind currently provides less than 6 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity. In order to reach the Government’s target of 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030, wind generation is going to have to increase 10-fold. The Tararua skyline, the windiest, richest wind resource in New Zealand, if not anywhere in the world, according to Mercury’s generation development manager Dennis Radich, has pretty much run out of capacity.