The Brooklyn wind turbine, on the hills above Wellington, is the oldest operating wind turbine in New Zealand. It began generating in 1993 and has run reliably and continuously since then in some of the highest winds enjoyed by any wind turbine in the world.
It was installed as part of an ECNZ (Electricity Corporation of New Zealand) research project to find out how wind turbines perform in New Zealand conditions and how wind turbines compare with other forms of generation. Meridian Energy inherited the single turbine when the company was formed in 1999.
The Brooklyn site was chosen for the wind evaluation project because of Wellington's strong winds. Power generated by the turbine is fed into the local network for general distribution in Wellington.
Turbine
The Vestas V27 turbine has a blade length of 13.5 meters. The turbine tower is 31 metres tall, under half the size of the 70 metre turbine towers at Te Äpiti Wind Farm, north of the Manawatu Gorge.
The Brooklyn wind turbine has a capacity of 225 kilowatts (or 0.225 megawats). Over the course of a year it generates the same amount of electricity as 80 homes use in the same period.
The turbine is remotely monitored and automatically controlled.
The blades turn at fixed speeds of 33 revolutions per minute (rpm) in wind speeds of less than 23 kilometres per hour (kph) or at 43 rpm in wind speeds above 23 kph. The turbine achieves its maximum generating capacity of 225 kilowatts when wind speeds are between 50 kph and 80 kph. If the wind is over 80 kph the turbine will automatically shut down.
Visit
The public viewing area at Brooklyn Wind Turbine provides panoramic views of Wellington. Access is off Ashton Fitchett Drive, Brooklyn, Wellington.
Key facts
Operator: Meridian Energy
Year installed: 1993
Number of turbines: 1
Installed capacity: 0.225 megawatts
Nominal annual generation: 1000 megawatt hours
Blade length: 13.5 metres
Tower height: 31.5 metres
Weight: 22.8 tonnes
More information
Location
To see the wind turbine, change the view to satellite and zoom in.