Country New Zealand Type Onshore Owner Meridian Energy Construction began September 2007 | Status Operational Hub height 68 m (223 ft) Construction cost 440 million USD Units operational 62 | |
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Location Makara, west of Wellington City Commission date April 2009 (April 2009) Similar Te Uku Wind Farm, Te Apiti Wind Farm, White Hill Wind Farm, Wellington Wind Turbine, Ben Dam | ||
Project west wind june 2011
Project West Wind is a wind farm located at Terawhiti Station and Makara Farm west of Wellington, New Zealand.
It is the first wind farm for the capital city, and has a capacity of 143 MW. Construction of the wind farm project began in September 2007 and was completed in late 2009. The wind farm received resource consent for up to 66 turbines, however only 62 were installed. It is owned and operated by Meridian Energy.
The wind farm was officially opened in April 2009, when Prime Minister John Key turned on the first 15 turbines. Electricity from the farm is stepped-up to 110 kV and is injected into Transpower's national grid via a tee off one of its Wilton to Central Park lines.
Six turbines suffered premature bearing failures in 2011.
The wind farm was the winner of the Energy and Resources category in the 2012 New Zealand Engineering Excellence Awards.