The Waipipi Wind Farm is located across four privately owned farms and is spread across a land area of approximately 980ha. Regular farming activities continue in parallel to the wind farms operation. The Waipipi Wind Farm project consists of 31 wind turbines with a total generating capacity of 133MW. The average site wind speed is 8.6m/s (31kph) at hub height making the site an ideal location for a wind farm.

The wind farm cost approximately $325m to build and generates 490GWh of electricity a year which, based on average residential consumption, would produce the same amount of electricity as used by over 65,000 homes. In 2016 Trustpower received final court approval for the demerger and listing of its Australian and New Zealand wind businesses, and in 2021, Mercury NZ Ltd. acquired the wind farm.

Commencement of construction

On 1th October 2018, Genesis and Tilt Renewables partnered as part of the development of the Waipipi (formerly Waverley) Wind Farm. They established a strategic relationship and agreed terms and conditions for a long-term power purchase and services agreement. The Waipipi Wind Farm is fully owned by Mercury but all electricity it generates is sold to Genesis Energy under a 20-year offtake agreement.

More information

Project information and additional details can be found here: 
https://www.mercury.co.nz/why-mercury/renewable-energy/wind-generation