Renewable energy in the Wairarapa
NEW ZEALAND’S first commercial wind farm is up and running. Wairarapa Electricity’s seven-turbine farm south of
Martinborough was formally ~~ commissioned in June and is now generating enough power for 1,500 homes, or six percent of the electricity supplier’s needs. The site has good wind regimes averaging 25 kilometres an hour, putting it in the top five percent of potential wind farm sites in the country. While the commercial viability of the $9-million project is marginal over the short term, over its 20-plus years lifetime it is likely to be very competitive with other forms of generation. Meanwhile in Palmerston North, another electricity supplier, Central Power, has obtained resource consents for a much larger-scale wind farm in the northern foothills of the Tararua Ranges. The site could hold up to 130 wind turbines generating 65 megawatts — half of Central Power’s needs. The company is still examining the financial viability of the $50million project before deciding to go ahead.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/FORBI19960801.2.9.6
Bibliographic details
Forest and Bird, Issue 281, 1 August 1996, Page 7
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162Renewable energy in the Wairarapa Forest and Bird, Issue 281, 1 August 1996, Page 7
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