New Zealand Wind Energy Association

NZ Windfarms' Te Rere Hau wind farm, situated off North Range Road in the Tararua Ranges, is approximately 11 kilometres east of Palmerston North.

NZ Windfarms is erecting 97 wind turbines (48.5 megawatts) at the site, and has consent for an additional 56 turbines (28 megawatts).

Construction

Stage 1 of construction was completed in 2006. It consisted of five 500 kilowatt Windflow turbines. The New Zealand-made  turbines stand 47 metres high, have two blades each 16.1 metres long.

Construction of Stage 2 is now well under way, with 65 turbines now operating.

The electricity generated from these turbines is fed into the national grid through a transmission line that connects Te Rere Hau to the Tararua wind farm substation.

The remaining 32 turbines are expected to be constructed in the extension site, which was granted consent in January 2010.

Expansion

In May 2009 NZ Windfarms lodged a Resource Consent application with Tararua District Council to install an additional 56 turbines in an area adjoining the consented wind farm. Submissions on the application closed on 27 July, and the council granted consent in January 2010.

This new area has a better wind resource than the lower slopes of the existing farm. NZ Windfarms says it would prefer to locate the remaining 32 wind turbines in this area.

An independent energy yield forecast completed for the whole site has shown that relocating the 32 turbines to the extension area would increase the wind farm's energy yield from 122 gigawatts-hours per year (for the wind farm as it is currently consented) to 153 gigawatt-hours per year.

Carbon credits

NZ Windfarms was granted tradeable greenhouse gas emissions units (carbon credits) as part of the Ministry for the Environment’s Projects to Reduce Emissions Scheme (PRE) in 2003/2004.

Wind farms are no longer eligible for carbon credits, although some developers have yet to collect the credits they were granted under the PRE. The last round of the PRE was in 2004. Wind farms do not receive a free allocation of carbon credits under the Emissions Trading Scheme.

Wind farms are built today only if they can generate electricity at a cost that is competitive with other forms of generation.

Visit

Unfortunately, there is no public viewing area for the Te Rere Hau Wind Farm. There is a viewing area at the nearby Te Apiti wind farm.

Key facts

Operator: NZ Windfarms
Total installed capacity: 21.5 megawatts
Turbine capacity: 0.5 megawatts
Blade length: 16.1 metres
Tower height: 30 metres

More information

• NZ Windfarms website
• Windflow Technology website
• Resource consent application for the expansion on the Tararua District Council website.

Location