Mighty River Power is proposing to build a wind farm on the Puketoi Range, 40km south of Dannevirke. In late June the Tararua District Councils granted consent for 53 turbines. The consent has been appealed by three parties.
The concent specifies that the maximum height for 49 of the turbines is 160 metres. The remaining four are limited to 130 metres.
If built, the wind farm would supply power into the national grid, with a transmission line linking the wind farm to the grid via Mighty River Power's proposed wind farm at Turitea. Monitoring in the area indicates that the wind resource in the Puketoi Range is very good, making it an ideal location for a reliable and productive wind farm.
Measurements from a wind monitoring mast indicate that the average wind speed at the height of a turbine is 11.3 m/s (or 40 km/h).
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