New Zealanders should be proud of wind energy. Why? 
We have one of the best wind resources of any country in the world thanks to our location, with the country lying across the prevailing westerly winds in an area long referred to by sailors as the 'Roaring Forties'. We are exposed to winds travelling across the ocean uninterrupted by other land forms. A fairly steady succession of troughs and depressions passes to the east of the country, creating the predominantly westerly wind flow. So there's plenty of wind that we can use to turn into electricity.
The first turbine installed in New Zealand was the iconic Brooklyn wind turbine, near Wellington, which was built in 1993. It was set up as an experiment to see how wind turbines performed in NZ conditions. It performed so well that it set international electricity generation records for a turbine of its size. Nearby West Wind at Makara is one of the best performing wind farms in the world – which just goes to show how strong and consistent our wind is!
New Zealand is third in the world for renewable electricity production. Wind is making a growing contribution, helping us remain a world leader. Other countries come to New Zealand when they want to know about wind energy. And it's going to become even more important for keeping our electricity costs down as other sources of energy become more constrained or increasingly expensive.
Wind energy is also one electricity generation solution that addresses climate change. The production of electricity using wind turbines creates no carbon emissions, which are the most common of the greenhouse gases. This is important because electricity generation is one of the fastest growing sources of greenhouse gas emissions in New Zealand – and it's also an area where low-emissions solutions are readily available.
We need clean, green energy to be able to meet the country's demands for power. Wind farms don't work in isolation and will never be the only source of electricity that we use. It works hand-in-hand with New Zealand's other renewable resources, such as hydro, to keep the lights on. Wind farms also produce more energy than they will use in their entire lifetime.
Wind energy is clean and green. The international perception of NZ as a stunning country, living by a clean, green philosophy is key to the country's success. This clean, green image is extremely valuable in terms of maintaining NZ's place in international markets, according to research commissioned by the Ministry for the Environment. The country's reputation is even used as a marketing tool in some sectors.
Wind energy supports and adds credibility to this image as it does not create greenhouse gas emissions and has fewer environmental impacts than many other sources of generation. It is therefore an important part of NZ's "100% pure" future.
