Tararua wind farm gets consent for 31 extra turbines

Electricity generator and retailer TrustPower has been granted resource consent for 31 of 40 turbines it wants to erect for the third stage of its Tararua wind farm.

Consent hearings for the extension, which will be partly in Palmerston North city and partly in Tararua district, were held in May.

TrustPower chief executive Keith Tempest said yesterday the company would now review the business case based on the smaller number of turbines for which it had received consent. That process would take place during the next few weeks and, if the project remained viable, TrustPower would then proceed with calling tenders for turbine supply and construction.

TrustPower already has 103 turbines, each 47m in diameter and delivering 600 kilowatts in the Tararua wind farm. The stage three turbines would be 90m in diameter and produce three megawatts each.

If stage three went ahead - it is expected to start producing late next year - the total output from the wind farm would be equivalent to the annual supply to 74,000 homes.

Tempest said carbon credits granted by the Government, to offset greenhouse gas emissions, had made the stage two development possible, and stage three had also been granted carbon credits.

If stage three went ahead, and was not held up by an appeal to the Environment Court, it should be producing at full capacity in time for winter 2007. With the full 40 turbines, the project was estimated to cost $220 million.

- NZPA