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Turitea Wind Farm is a 222-megawatt wind farm near Turitea, Palmerston North, New Zealand. The farm is owned and operated by Mercury Energy.

Turitea is the largest wind farm by nameplate capacity in New Zealand, overtaking nearby Tararua Wind Farm. Most of the wind farm land is located in the Turitea Reserve. The project was initially planned for 131 wind turbines with a capacity of over 300 MW, while final approval was given for 60 turbines.

History

The wind farm was proposed for both land owned by the Palmerston North City Council and surrounding private farm land. In 2005, and following a competitive bid process, the Council selected Mercury (then called Mighty River Power) to develop the project.

Construction of the Northern stage, consisting of 33 turbines, began in October 2019. Commissioning was initially expected in early 2021, however this was revised after challenges with the overland transport of turbine blades and commissioning was pushed back to the end of 2021. Construction of the Southern stage of 27 turbines followed.

Work on the wind farm was halted in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. In December 2020, a ship fire at the Port of Napier destroyed 12 nacelles and 11 hubs destined for the Southern stage.

The wind-farm generated its first electricity on 30 July 2021. The final turbine of the northern stage was installed in October 2021, when 23 turbines were in operation. The Northern stage was fully operational by December 2021.

The wind farm was formally opened by Minister of Energy Megan Woods in May 2023, and is expected to be fully operational by the end of June.

Consent process

In January 2005 after receiving multiple approaches from New Zealand electricity generators, the Palmerston North City Council sought a commercial partner for the construction of a wind farm in the Turitea Reserve. In August 2005 it signed a deal with Mighty River Power for development of the wind farm. The deal included plans for an eco-park funded by the city from wind-farm revenues, and for "milestone payments" from Mighty River to the council at various stages of the consent process.

The council began consultation on changes to the reserve's management plan in August 2006. The proposal was opposed by Forest and Bird and the Department of Conservation as damaging the integrity of the reserve and potentially contravening the Reserves Act 1977. In October 2006 the Palmerston North City Council changed the purpose of the reserve to include renewable electricity generation. A subsequent court challenge to the decision was unsuccessful.

Mighty River Power applied for resource consents for 131 turbines in 2008, and later applied to the Environment Minister for the project to be called in under the Resource Management Act. The call in process can result in faster processing of major projects, but in this case it coincided with the 2008 election and change of government. The Palmerston North City Council decided to continue with processing of the application, despite Mighty River Power's application for call-in.

In December 2008, the Minister for the Environment, Nick Smith, directed that the project be called in and the Board of Inquiry invited submissions and commenced sitting in 2009. The hearing adjourned for a period in 2009, to enable Mighty River Power to redesign the proposal, reducing it to 104 turbines. In 2010, the board resumed the hearing, with a draft decision in February 2011 permitting 61 turbines.

In 2011, the board issued its final decision, approving a wind farm of 60 turbines, up to 3 MW each. In October 2011, Mighty River Power stated in its annual report that the Turitea Wind Farm was not likely to be economically viable before 2015.

Operation

The northern stage employs 33 Vestas V112-3.6 MW turbines, measuring 69 m (226 ft) from base to hub with a rotor diameter of 112 m (367 ft). The southern stage employs 27 Vestas V112-3.8 MW turbines.

A 12 km (7.5 mi)-long double circuit 220 kV transmission line connects the wind farm to Transpower's national grid at its Linton substation. The transmission line uses 20 monopoles and 18 lattice towers, with 8 structures installed by helicopter. The line is fed by two substations, one for each cluster of wind turbines, Plantation substation in the north, and Browns Flat substation in the south. The line has been built to allow for future wind projects in the area like the Puketoi wind farm as existing transmission capacity east of the Tararua Ranges is limited.

See also

• Wind power in New Zealand
• Electricity sector in New Zealand

References

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4. ^ "Final Report and Decision on Turitea Wind Farm Proposal". Ministry for the Environment. 6 September 2011.
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7. Bradley, Grant (27 March 2019). "Mercury building a $256 million wind farm near Palmerston North". The New Zealand Herald.
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13. ^ Rankin, Janine (26 October 2021). "Mercury marks two years since work began at the Turitea wind farm". Stuff. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
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27. Helen Harvey (5 September 2006). "Wrangle on law looming". Manawatu Standard. p. 1 – via EBSCOHost.
28. Helen Harvey (31 October 2006). "Wind farm gets council thumbs up". Manawatu Standard. p. 1 – via EBSCOHost.
29. Friends of the Turitea Reserve Society Incorporated v Palmerston North City Council, (2007) 2 NZHC 661 (High Court of New Zealand 25 July 2007).
30. Grant Miller (27 July 2007). "Green light for Turitea wind farm". Manawatu Standard. p. 1. Retrieved 29 September 2021.
31. Britton Broun (27 July 2007). "Turitea turbine opponents lose court appeal". Dominion-Post. p. A5 – via EBSCOHost.
32. Katie Chapman (16 August 2008). "Wind farm resource applications lodged". Manawatu Standard. p. 1 – via EBSCOHost.
33. "Turitea Wind Farm AEE" (PDF). Mighty River Power. February 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-24.
34. "Turbine consent process proceeds". Manawatu Standard. 14 Nov 2008.
35. "Ministerial direction for call in". Ministry for the Environment. 18 December 2008.
36. "Mighty River Power's proposal for a wind farm at Turitea". Ministry for the Environment.
37. Rankin, Janine (8 October 2011). "Wind farm on hold". Manawatu Standard. Retrieved 10 October 2011.
38. ^ "Turitea Wind Farm, Palmerston North". Power Technology. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
39. ^ "Investor Day 2023 by Mercury - Issuu". issuu.com. 2023-03-24. Retrieved 2023-06-30.

• Wind farms in New Zealand
• Tararua Range