Wind power in New Zealand - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Wind 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. Currently wind supplies around 4% of New Zealand's electricity needs, with predictions that this will reach 20% in the next 20 years.

Generation capacity and expansion

As of June 2011, New Zealand had an installed wind generation capacity of 615 MW. Wind power

Wind power

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electricity, windmills for mechanical power, windpumps for water pumping or drainage, or sails to propel ships....

now provides enough electricity

Electricity

Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...

to meet the needs of 180,000 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...

households, or approximately 4% of the country's electricity demand. Wind farm

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...

s with a further capacity of 80 MW are under construction, with approval granted or being sought for another 2,875 MW.

Wind resources

New Zealand

has outstanding wind

Wind

Wind is the flow of gases on a large scale. On Earth, wind consists of the bulk movement of air. In outer space, solar wind is the movement of gases or charged particles from the sun through space, while planetary wind is the outgassing of light chemical elements from a planet's atmosphere into space...

resource

Resource

A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced, typically of limited availability.Resource may also refer to:* Resource , substances or objects required by a biological organism for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction...

s, due to its position astride the Roaring Forties

Roaring Forties

The Roaring Forties is the name given to strong westerly winds found in the Southern Hemisphere, generally between the latitudes of 40 and 49 degrees. Air displaced from the Equator towards the South Pole, which travels close to the surface between the latitudes of 30 and 60 degrees south, combines...

, resulting in nearly continuous strong westerly winds over many locations, unimpeded by other nearby landmasses at similar latitude. One study found that using 1% of total available land for wind farms would produce approximately 100,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year. This is roughly two times the annual electricity consumption of New Zealand. Nearly continuous however does not mean continuous: a high-pressure weather system

High pressure area

A high-pressure area is a region where the atmospheric pressure at the surface of the planet is greater than its surrounding environment. Winds within high-pressure areas flow outward due to the higher density air near their center and friction with land...

can cover the entire country, meaning no significant winds anywhere.

Acceptance

Wind farms and turbines generate a wide range of opinions from outright opposition to widespread acceptance. Opposition is due to noise, aesthetics and ecological factors. A Palmerston North landscape designer launched a petition in 2008 calling for a moratorium on wind farm developments until stricter national policies are in place, including minimum distances from housing, maximum saturation levels, and protection for iconic areas.

Wind farms

Operating

Only wind turbines and farms over 0.5 MW generating capacity are listed.

Name	Commissioned	Operator	Number of turbines	Installed capacity (MW)	Annual average generation (GWh)	Coordinates
Hau Nui Hau Nui Wind Farm The Hau Nui Wind Farm is a 15-turbine wind farm located approximately south-east of Martinborough, in the South Wairarapa District of New Zealand...	1997	Genesis Energy	15	8.65	22	41°21′42"S 175°29′2"E
Horseshoe Bend	2009	Pioneer Generation	3	2.25
Lulworth		Energy³	4	1
Mahinerangi Mahinerangi Wind Farm 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...		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...	12	36	105	45°45′38"S 169°54′18"E
Tararua Tararua Wind Farm The Tararua Wind Farm is a wind farm owned and operated by TrustPower. It is located on 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....	1999	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...	134	161	650	40°20′46"S 175°46′48"E
Te Apiti Te Apiti wind farm Te 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...	2004	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	55	91	258	40°17′46"S 175°48′30"E
Te Rere Hau Te Rere Hau Wind Farm Te 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....	2006-11	NZ Windfarms	97	48.5		40°23′18"S 175°43′27"E
Te Uku Te Uku Wind Farm Te Uku Wind Farm is a wind farm at Te Uku near Raglan, New Zealand. It has a capacity of 64MW using 28 wind turbines. Construction was completed in March 2011, at a cost of $200 million. The farm covers an area of approximately . The wind farm is jointly owned by WEL Networks and Meridian...	2011	WEL Networks WEL Networks WEL Networks Limited is an electricity distribution company, serving the Waikato Region in New Zealand. WEL is the fifth largest electricity distribution companies in New Zealand, with over 80,000 connections and 4,900 km of lines.... / Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	28	64.4		37°52′42"S 174°57′47"E
Weld Cone	2010	Energy³	3	0.75
Project West Wind Project West Wind 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...	2009	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	62	142.6	550	41°16′35"S 174°39′37"E
White Hill White Hill Wind Farm The White Hill Wind Farm is a wind farm in New Zealand operated by Meridian Energy. It was officially opened in 2007.It is located six kilometres south-east of Mossburn in the Southland Region of the South Island. The wind farm covers approximately 24 square kilometers of mainly forestry...	2007	Meridian Energy	29	58	200	45°45′9"S 168°16′18"E

Meridian Energy also operates a 1 MW wind farm on Ross Island, Antarctica. It is not included in the above list as it doesn't contribute electricity to the New Zealand national electricity network.

Under construction

Name	Operator	Number of turbines	Capacity (MW)	Planned commissioning date	Coordinates
Mt Stuart Mt Stuart Wind Farm The Mt Stuart Wind Farm is a wind farm in New Zealand being constructed by Pioneer Generation. It is located 15 kilometres west of Milton in the Otago Region of the South Island....	NZ Windfarms	9	7.65		46°4′20"S 169°46′2"E

Proposed

Name	Operator	Projected Capacity (MW)	Planned commissioning date	Coordinates
Awakino	Ventus	41.6
Awhitu Awhitu Wind Farm The Awhitu Wind Farm is a renewable energy project in New Zealand planned by Genesis Energy. This development is proposed to be located on the Awhitu Peninsula near Waiuku on the west coast south of Auckland....	Genesis Energy	25	on hold	37°16′S 174°40′E
Castle Hill Wind Project (Wairarapa)	Genesis	429 to 858	consulting
Chatham Island	CBD Energy	0.4
Hauauru ma raki Hauauru ma raki Hauāuru mā raki is a wind farm being developed on the Waikato coast of New Zealand.It will extend 34 km along the coast between Port Waikato and Raglan. The project covers an area of and has a capacity of up to 504 MW...	Contact Energy Contact Energy Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, natural gas wholesaler and electricity, natural gas, and LPG retailer.The company is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand , generating 24 percent of New Zealand's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and...	540		37°34′4"S 174°48′18"E
Hawke's Bay Hawke's Bay Wind Farm The Hawke's Bay Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm which will be constructed in the Hawkes Bay region of New Zealand. It is expected to have a capacity of up to 225MW, with a maximum of 75 turbines...	Hawkes Bay Wind Farm Ltd	225		39°11′2"S 176°41′35"E
Kaiwera Downs Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm The Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm to be located in the Southland region of New Zealand. It is expected to have a maximum capacity of 240MW and use up 83 turbines...	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...	240		46°14′29"S 169°3′21"E
Long Gully Long Gully Wind Farm Long Gully Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm in Wellington, New Zealand. Long Gully is an area adjacent to the Karori Wildlife Sanctuary.The proposal involved using turbines manufactured by the New Zealand company Windflow Technology Limited...	Mighty River Power	12.5	Consent granted in October 2009	41°19′36"S 174°43′4"E
Lulworth	Energy 3	1
Mahinerangi Mahinerangi Wind Farm 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... (stage 2 onwards)	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...	164		45°45′38"S 169°54′18"E
Mill Creek Mill Creek Wind Farm Mill Creek Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm in the Ohariu Valley near Wellington, New Zealand.The wind farm is being developed by Meridian Energy. The consent application described a total capacity of up to 71.3MW...	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	71		41°12′44"S 174°44′20"E
Mount Cass Mount Cass Wind Farm The Mount Cass Wind Farm is/was a proposed wind farm to be located east of Waipara on Mount Cass in the Canterbury region of New Zealand.-Timeline:* 23 November 2007 - application for resource consents lodged* 1 August 2008 - submissions close...	MainPower MainPower MainPower New Zealand Limited is an electricity distribution company, based in Rangiora, New Zealand.The MainPower network has 4,518 km of circuits and it services 33,793 customers over an area of 11,180 km2. Maximum total demand is 89MW....	69	consents declined, under appeal	43°4′30"S 172°50′15"E
Project Central Wind Project Central Wind Project Central Wind is a proposed wind farm located on the Hihitahi Plateau between Waiouru and Taihape, New Zealand. Meridian Energy is developing the wind farm, which is planned to comprise 52 turbines and produce up to 130 MW.- Consent Process :...	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	130
Project Gumfields	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	99
Project Hayes Project Hayes Project Hayes is a controversial wind farm proposed for the Lammermoor Range of Otago, New Zealand.It has a proposed capacity of up to 630MW, making it the largest wind farm project in the southern hemisphere. The proposed farm would cover an area of approximately 92 km², use up to 176 wind...	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	630	consents waiting for courts	45°30′39"S 169°53′3"E
Project Hurunui, Greta Valley, North Canterbury	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	76	consents notified April 2011
Puketiro Puketiro Wind Farm The Puketiro Wind Farm is a renewable energy project being developed by the Greater Wellington Regional Council on Puketiro Forest land owned by the council near Pauatahanui, north of Wellington, New Zealand...	RES NZ	150		41°06′S 174°54′E
Rototuna Rototuna Wind Farm Rototuna Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm in the Rototuna Forest in Northland, New Zealand. The concept is being developed by Meridian Energy, and has the potential to produce up to 500 MW....	Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand state-owned electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 32 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and is the fourth-equal largest retailer, with...	500		36°15′0"S 174°1′48"E
Slopedown	Wind Prospect CWP (NZ) Ltd	150
Taharoa	Taharoa C	100
Taumatatotora	Ventus Energy	44
Titiokura Te Waka Wind Farm The Titiokura/Te Waka Wind Farm is a wind farm project being developed by Unison Networks and Roaring 40s. Developed in two stages, it is located adjacent to SH5 in the Te Pohue - Titiokura area, 35 km west of Napier, New Zealand....	Unison Networks and Roaring 40s	45		39°12′20"S 176°41′13"E
Turitea	Mighty River Power	360	Construction unlikely until 2015.	40°26′28"S 175°40′17"E
Waitahora	Contact Energy Contact Energy Contact Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator, natural gas wholesaler and electricity, natural gas, and LPG retailer.The company is the second-largest electricity generator in New Zealand , generating 24 percent of New Zealand's electricity in the year ending 31 December 2009, and...	177	consents declined, under appeal	40°21′44"S 176°10′24"E
Waverley	Allco Wind Energy	135

Abandoned

Name	Operator	Projected Capacity (MW)	Comments	Coordinates
Maungatua Wind Farm	Windpower Maungatua	25	project abandoned
Motorimu Wind Farm	Motorimu Wind Farm Limited	108	scrapped, consents surrendered
Te Waka Te Waka Wind Farm The Titiokura/Te Waka Wind Farm is a wind farm project being developed by Unison Networks and Roaring 40s. Developed in two stages, it is located adjacent to SH5 in the Te Pohue - Titiokura area, 35 km west of Napier, New Zealand....	Unison Networks and Roaring 40s	102		39°12′20"S 176°41′13"E

Individual wind turbines

Individual demonstration and prototype wind turbines have been installed at Southbridge in Canterbury, Gebbies Pass near Christchurch

Christchurch

Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...

and at Brooklyn in Wellington

Wellington

Wellington is the capital city and third most populous urban area of New Zealand, although it is likely to have surpassed Christchurch due to the exodus following the Canterbury Earthquake. It is at the southwestern tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Rimutaka Range...

.

Many small windmills serve as windpump

Windpump

A windpump is a windmill used for pumping water, either as a source of fresh water from wells, or for draining low-lying areas of land. Once a common fixture on farms in semi-arid areas, windpumps are still used today where electric power is not available or too expensive.-History:Windmills were...

s on New Zealand farms.

Coping with intermittency

Wind farms partner nicely with hydro plants on the same grid to create combined power plant

Virtual power plant

A virtual power plant is a cluster of distributed generation installations which are collectively run by a central control entity....

s, because hydro plants can be uprated with extra turbine units to provide highly dispatchable

Dispatchable generation

Dispatchable generation refers to sources of electricity that can be dispatched at the request of power grid operators; that is, generating plants that can be turned on or off, or can adjust their power output on demand...

peak generating capacity above the average flows of their rivers, at lower cost than other peak power options. During periods of high wind and low electricity demand, a hydro plant can reduce its output to accumulate water in its reservoir, whilst wind power handles a higher share of the grid load. Then during periods of low wind, the hydro plant can raise its output temporarily, drawing down its reservoir a bit. Given New Zealand's large proportion of hydroelectric generating capacity, it is better-positioned than most nations to uprate its generating stations and grid to handle intermittent power source

Intermittent power source

An intermittent energy source is any source of energy that is not continuously available due to some factor outside direct control. The intermittent source may be quite predictable, for example, tidal power, but cannot be dispatched to meet the demand of a power system. Examples of intermittent...

s such as wind and solar. The available virtual energy storage represented by hydro plants can be one of the main factors limiting the maximum amount of wind and solar power that a grid can accommodate. Further increases in intermittent power source development may require construction of pumped-storage hydroelectricity

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is a type of hydroelectric power generation used by some power plants for load balancing. The method stores energy in the form of water, pumped from a lower elevation reservoir to a higher elevation. Low-cost off-peak electric power is used to run the pumps...

and implementation of energy demand management

Energy demand management

Energy demand management, also known as demand side management , is the modification of consumer demand for energy through various methods such as financial incentives and education...

techniques.

Other nations also plan to generate more of their electricity from renewable sources

Renewable energy

Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable . About 16% of global final energy consumption comes from renewables, with 10% coming from traditional biomass, which is mainly used for heating, and 3.4% from...

, and are researching solutions for the intermittency problem. The Institute for Solar Energy Supply Technology of the University of Kassel

University of Kassel

The University of Kassel, founded in 1970, is one of the newer universities in the state of Hesse. The university is in Kassel, and as of September 2010 has about 18,113 students...

pilot-tested a combined power plant

Virtual power plant

A virtual power plant is a cluster of distributed generation installations which are collectively run by a central control entity....

linking solar, wind, biogas

Biogas

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the biological breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas...

and hydrostorage

Pumped-storage hydroelectricity

to provide load-following power

Load following power plant

A load following power plant is a power plant that adjusts its power output as demand for electricity fluctuates throughout the day. Load following plants are typically in-between base load and peaking power plants in efficiency, speed of startup and shutdown, construction cost, cost of electricity...

around the clock, entirely from renewable sources. According to a 2007 Stanford University study published in the Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology, interconnecting ten or more wind farms allows 33 to 47% of the total energy produced to be used as reliable, baseload electric power, as long as minimum criteria are met for wind speed and turbine height.

External links

New Zealand Wind Energy Association

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