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As many as 20 wind turbines could be erected in Antarctica to serve the New Zealand and United States research stations.
Antarctica New Zealand chief executive Lou Sanson said the New Zealand project would cut consumption by about 463,000 litres of fuel, or 11 per cent, every year on Ross Island.
This would effectively reduce greenhouse gas production by 1242 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
The turbines will be build by state-owned generator Meridian Energy, whose director of development, Ken Smales, said that the projecthad been investigated since 2005.
Site works for the project would start in November with plans to have the first stage fully operational by the end of February 2010.
The machines are designed for low-temperature operation and do not have a gearbox or oil.
A Ministry for the Environment manager, Paul Irving, who visited Scott Base to help to develop the proposal for a wind farm, said the scheme could ultimately result in more than 20 turbines supplying power to New Zealand's Scott Base and the United States' McMurdo bases.
