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Construction began onsite in October 2007 and will be completed by late 2009.
West Wind wind farm will have 62 wind turbines and each turbine will have a capacity of 2.3 MW.
Prime Minister John Key switched on turbines on 29th April 2009. First Power at West Wind provides enough clean energy to power the equivalent of approximately 17,000 homes, as 15 turbines connect to the national grid.
When fully operational at the end of 2009, the 62-turbine development will have a capacity of 143 megawatts and will power the equivalent of 70,000 average New Zealand homes: that’s all the homes within the territorial boundaries of Wellington City.
The consent process started in May 2005, with construction getting under way in September 2007. The first turbines were installed in February this year.
The project team had to overcome many challenges including the steep and rugged terrain, and difficult access to the site. To help resolve this, a temporary wharf has been built at nearby Oteranga Bay so the turbines could be transported by sea. Meridian has also had to create 33 kilometres of access roads on the 53 square kilometre site.
The project has already been of tremendous benefit to the local economy. For example, the civil engineering works involved in building the roads has required an investment of $100 million.
Full power is on target for completion in December 2009.
For further information on the project and updates on construction please click on the links below:
Discover Project West Wind (1 MB)
West Wind Newsletter 02 (375KB pdf)
West Wind Newsletter 01 (254KB pdf)
West Wind newsletter no 3
West Wind Noise management Plan. (4,361KB pdf)
View a West Wind Map (600KB pdf) of proposed turbine sites.
View our traffic management plan Trafficguideweb.pdf (303 KB pdf)
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