Country New Zealand Owner(s) Tilt Renewables Site area 17.23 km² Construction began September 2010 Units operational 12 | Status Operational Type Onshore Make and model Vestas Construction cost 75 million NZD | |
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Location north of Lake Mahinerangi, Otago Commission date March 2011 (March 2011) | ||
Mahinerangi wind farm 360
The Mahinerangi Wind Farm is a wind farm on the north side of Lake Mahinerangi, around 50 km west of Dunedin, in Otago, New Zealand. Stage one of the wind farm, generating 36 MW, was commissioned in March 2011, and an additional 164 MW is consented to be commissioned in further stages.
Contents
The wind farm is owned and operated by Tilt Renewables. It was the second major wind farm to be built in the South Island.
Mahinerangi wind farm
History
Resource consent was granted in 2007 and later confirmed after an appeal to the Environment Court.
Construction of stage 1 of the wind farm, consisting of twelve turbines, began in September 2010. Vestas V90-3MW turbines were chosen for the wind farm, having previously been used for stage 3 of Tararua Wind Farm in 2007. Turbines were shipped to Port Chalmers, and trucked through Dunedin to their final site.
The wind farm generated its first electricity on 21 February 2011, with the first two turbines being commissioned. All twelve stage one turbines were completed and generating electricity by the end of March 2011.
Location
The wind farm will be contained within 17.23 km2 (6.65 sq mi) of land at an elevation of 600 to 730 meters above sea level and about 50 kilometres west of Dunedin. Most of the land in the proposed site is pasture grazed by sheep and cattle.
Transmission
Electricity generated from Stage 1 turbines will be injected into TrustPower's nearby Deep Stream and Waipori hydro schemes. This allows the wind turbines to operate in synergy with the hydro schemes, allowing water to be preserved during off-peak times while the wind farm is generating. Electricity from Stage 1 and the hydro schemes is then injected into either Dunedin's local distribution network, or into Transpower's Halfway Bush-Balclutha-Gore 110 kV line at Berwick.
Stage 2 and beyond is too large to inject into the Waipori/Deep Stream system. Instead, it will inject into Transpower's Halfway Bush-Roxburgh 110 kV line, which passes a short distance south of the wind farm.