Collaboration the key in marathon effort to restore West Wind Farm

More than two years after the loss of a key piece of machinery, Meridian’s West Wind Farm is back to full health and once again making the most of Wellington’s wild wind.

In May 2023 West Wind Farm, on Wellington’s western hills, developed a problem with one of its two transformers that meant a replacement would be required.

“The transformers used on wind farms aren’t something you can just pick up at the local hardware store,” says Meridian GM Generation Tania Palmer. “They’re highly specialised pieces of equipment and there’s an enormous amount of demand for them internationally.” 

A new 90 tonne transformer – a 110 MVA unit from Elsewedy Electric Indonesia - arrived in New Zealand in mid 2025. The project to then transport it to site was a complex undertaking that required months of planning, and almost a week of careful heavy vehicle movements.

Once the new transformer was in place, a team of electricians and engineers then completed the installation and commissioning process late on Friday 10 October.

“It was a slick operation from everyone involved,” says Tania Palmer. “The planning, procurement, transportation and commissioning - everything went beautifully.”

“This was a huge piece of work that’s delivered huge results for the country. Having this piece of kit in place means we can continue delivering a steady supply of clean, renewable electricity that Kiwi homes and businesses can rely on.” 

Interim solution helped boost generation output

While the loss of the original transformer in May 2023 had left West Wind 44MW short of its maximum capacity, Meridian was able to partner with Transpower to find an interim solution. 

With low hydro lake levels and the scale of New Zealand’s gas supply shortage becoming evident over winter 2024, the loan in October 2024 of a temporary transformer from Transpower plugged the capacity gap throughout winter 2025 and restored West Wind’s capacity to 143MW.

Transpower Executive General Manager Grid Delivery Mark Ryall says winter is always a challenge in the electricity sector, with demand rising as temperatures fall. 

“We knew that the additional 44 megawatts of power would make a real difference in helping us keep Kiwis warm through the colder months, so it was no-brainer to help out. While loaning an 81-tonne transformer from our reserves wasn’t a simple task, we know how to pull together in this sector to keep the energy flowing”.

Tania Palmer says that cooperation was critical to supporting New Zealand’s electricity supply.

“We take our responsibility to New Zealand extremely seriously, and the outstanding collaboration with Transpower on this project meant we could continue to deliver on our commitment to provide Kiwis with the power they need.”