Tararua Wind Farm
Encyclopedia
The Tararua Wind Farm is a wind farm
owned and operated by TrustPower
. It is located on 700 hectares (7 km²) of farm land on the Tararua Ranges of New Zealand
. It has become New Zealand's largest capacity wind farm with a total capacity of 160MW.
The wind farm was first commissioned in 1999 and has been upgraded twice since. The most recent addition was commissioned in September 2007.
The wind farm consists of 134 turbines
of two different types:
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
owned and operated by TrustPower
TrustPower
TrustPower Limited is a New Zealand electricity generation and electricity retailing company, listed on the New Zealand stock exchange.TrustPower is New Zealand's fifth largest electricity generator and the fourth largest electricity retailer , serving 260,000 customers throughout New Zealand...
. It is located on 700 hectares (7 km²) of farm land on the Tararua Ranges of New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. It has become New Zealand's largest capacity wind farm with a total capacity of 160MW.
The wind farm was first commissioned in 1999 and has been upgraded twice since. The most recent addition was commissioned in September 2007.
The wind farm consists of 134 turbines
Wind turbine
A wind turbine is a device that converts kinetic energy from the wind into mechanical energy. If the mechanical energy is used to produce electricity, the device may be called a wind generator or wind charger. If the mechanical energy is used to drive machinery, such as for grinding grain or...
of two different types:
- 103 VestasVestasVestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines. It is the largest in the world, but due to very rapid growth of its competitors, its market share decreased from 28% in 2007 to 12.5% in 2009...
V47 turbines, each rated at 660 kW with three 23.5 metre long blades. Each turbine is mounted on a 40 metre high steel lattice tower. - 31 Vestas V90-3MWVestas V90-3MWThe Vestas V90-3MW is a three bladed upwind wind turbine generator that uses pitch control and a doubly fed induction generator...
turbines, each rated at 3MW with three 45 metre long blades.
See also
- Te Apiti Wind FarmTe Apiti wind farmTe Āpiti is a wind farm owned and operated by Meridian Energy. It is located on 11.5 km² of land north of the Manawatu Gorge in the North Island of New Zealand...
- Te Rere Hau Wind FarmTe Rere Hau Wind FarmTe Rere Hau is a wind farm owned and operated by NZ Windfarms Ltd. It is situated on the Tararua Ranges, approximately 11 km east of Palmerston North in New Zealand....
- Wind farmWind farmA wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
- Wind power in New ZealandWind power in New ZealandWind power in New Zealand generates a small but rapidly growing proportion of the country's electricity, as the country makes increasing use of its outstanding wind resources...