State-owned power company Meridian Energy has confirmed it's seeking resource consent to develop New Zealand's biggest wind farm at Makara west of Wellington, but a group of residents has vowed to fight the plan.
The proposed wind farm, called Project West Wind, is expected to generate enough electricity to power up to 110,000 average homes, equivalent to every home in Wellington City, Lower Hutt and Porirua, Meridian says.
The wind farm will be located across 55 square kilometres on Meridian's Quartz Hill property and its neighbour to the south, Terawhiti Station.
Resdients group Makara Guardians says the community has not been consulted on the proposal and residents are meeting to discuss how to oppose it.
Makara resident Peter Shearer says locals will continue to fight to stop a wind farm being built in the area.
Shearer says Makara is simply not a suitable site for the wind farm despite assurances the turbines will be placed away from houses and Makara Beach.
He says he's supportive of the concept of wind energy, but they should be placed well away from houses and recreational areas such as Makara.
Capacity
Project West Wind is expected to have up to 70 turbines with a total capacity of approximately 210 megawatts, significantly larger than Meridian's 92 megawatt Te Apiti wind farm north of the Manawatu Gorge.
The new wind farm's generation will go into Transpower's national grid and be available for use in the Wellington area, helping secure supply in the region, Meridian says.
Meridian Energy chief executive Keith Turner says the site has been identified as one of the best in the world for wind farm development.
"Our Project West Wind proposal makes great use of Wellington's world-class wind resource. The site has strong, consistent wind conditions because of the funnelling effect of Cook Strait, making it ideal for wind power generation," Turner says.
Project West Wind would be generating electricity over 90% of the time and operating at full capacity about 47% of the time - more than double the international average of 23%.
Survey
Turner says a recent survey commissioned by Meridian found 84% of Wellingtonians were positive about a wind farm in the capital if its design had minimal sound and visual impacts.
"Our proposal meets those criteria."
Most survey participants identified wind farms as their preferred option for new electricity generation, he says.
"They regard wind power as natural, renewable, clean and a potential new tourist attraction for Wellington."
Effects
Turner says Meridian has conducted several asessments of the environmental effects of the wind farm, looking at everything from local ecology, geology and archaeology to construction requirements, noise and visual effect.
He says the assessments have influenced the placement of wind turbines.
The company identified 107 technically and economically feasible wind turbine sites, and removed 37 of these from its proposal to ensure it will have minimal impact on local people and local areas of historical or ecological significance, Turner says.
"No wind turbines will be visible from Makara Beach, and even for homes where turbines can be seen, the turbines will be at least 750 metres away."
Turner says Meridian Energy will also take measures to reduce the impact of construction activity on communities near the wind farm site.
It proposes to transport wind turbine equipment to the site using a barge landing at Oteranga Bay or Ohau Bay to minimise the effects of transporting large loads through Karori and other western suburbs of Wellington.
Consultation
Turner has promised community consultation with local open days and information on the proposal.
"Our consultation with local stakeholders will be a genuine process where we will address their environmental and resource use concerns.
"Everyone will have an opportunity to put forward their views on our wind farm proposal, and we encourage people who support the use of wind energy in Wellington to make a submission."
The timing of the project's completion will depend on progress of the resource consents process, he says.
Power shortage
Turner says the Project West Wind proposal is "another important step" in helping to address New Zealand's impending electricity generation shortfall, with demand for electricity increasing around 2% a year, but supply constrained as Maui gas reserves rapidly dwindle.
Meridian is encouraging greater energy efficiency and upgrading its existing generation infrastructure, but these measures are not enough on their own, he says.
"New Zealand must also pursue new electricity generation projects, and we can use our own renewable resources to meet our energy needs."
Meridian will generate electricity using only renewable resources and wind-farms and hydro power stations are currently the only proven, environmentally responsible and economically viable means of generating renewable energy on a large scale, he says.
"They also work extremely well together. When the wind blows we can preserve our hydro storage, and when the wind stops we can quickly bring our hydro plant into play."
