Power to the people. Harapaki wind farm development has five turbines generating power to the national grid. With a further 36 turbines to be constructed the field will eventually generate power for 70,000 homes. Video / Warren Buckland
In the middle of eye-watering winds, five wind turbines are already spinning away and generating power at Harapaki Wind Farm near Te Pōhue between Napier and Taupō.
Standing at the highest point of the site, 1100 metres above sea level, you can even look down onto the topsof wind turbines which stand about 145 metres tall from the ground to blade tip when complete.
Meridian took chief photographer Warren Buckland and reporter James Pocock on a tour this week to view the project’s progress.
The $448 million Harapaki Wind Farm is potentially the most expensive project undertaken by anyone in Hawke’s Bay, its project manager Robert Batters says.
It will generate enough renewable energy to power 70,000 households, or roughly all of Hawke’s Bay when finished.
The project faced headwinds from Covid and Cyclone Gabrielle but has managed to avoid significant delays to its projected completion date of September 2024.
He said the turbines, about 145 metres tall from the ground to the tip of its 58.6-metre blades in a vertical position, were the largest variety in the Meridian fleet and could generate up to 4.3 megawatts each.
As of Friday, 11 turbines had been fully erected and seven partially built at the Maungaharuru Range site.
The highest point of the 12-square-kilometre site is 1100m above sea level, making it potentially the highest wind farm in the country, according to Batters.
When built, the 145-metre tall wind turbines can each generate up to 4.3 megawatts of power. Photo / Warren Buckland
“This is unusual for a wind farm because it is not often you can park up and look down on turbines,” he said.
Unfortunately, it is a view that not many will get to see easily. Batters said the site would not be open to the public upon completion due to the weather conditions creating safety challenges.
Conditions at the site on Tuesday afternoon, wind at 50km/h gusting up to 61km/h, were typical.
He said that although the site was not ideal for tours, Meridian had plans to facilitate visiting groups including local school groups.
One of the turbines under construction. As of Friday, Batters said 11 turbines had been fully built and seven partially erected at Harapaki. Photo / Warren Buckland
“A lot of the effort is getting the roads and infrastructure built to get to the foundations. So once that is in place, potentially you could cycle this site again in 30 years time. In some cases, the technology advances so much that you might look to replace them a little earlier depending on the economics of it.”
He said there were various ideas about how the blades could be recycled at the end of their lifespan, but none of Meridian’s existing fleets had reached that point.
“To date, Te Apiti [Meridian wind farm on Saddle Rd] would be the oldest in the fleet and has still got a few more years to go.”
Project manager Robert Batters says the site will not be open to the public because of safety challenges but the company is working on potentially facilitating visits from local schools. Photo / Warren Buckland
More than 200km of cabling installed with help from Transpower connects all 41 turbines to the substation, more than enough to travel from Napier to Rotorua (218km).
“In terms of cabling it is probably one of the largest projects Meridian has undertaken,” Batters said.
When asked if there were monitoring and mitigation steps taken for potential risks to local fauna, particularly bird life, Batters said the company had constant monitoring from independent ecologists.
There are 21 bird-monitoring locations across the wind farm and every six weeks these sites are visited by independent ecologists to observe bird activity in these areas.
“Monitoring has been undertaken since construction started and is expected to continue for a further four years,” he said.
“To date, we haven’t seen any impact on bird life.”
Meridian's goal is to leave the environment in a better state than it found it. To that end, it engages in a variety of sustainable practices during projects. Photo / Warren Buckland
He said Meridian trapped feral cats on site as they had the potential to do more harm to local bird life than the wind farm.
“Our goal is to leave the environment in a better state than we found it.”
He said key buildings on the site were made using sustainable design and materials, the company used electric vehicles, it tried to ensure it diverted as much waste as possible from landfills, reused fencing materials, dealt with pests and performed hydroseeding for erosion control.
“For Meridian, we want it to be just the most sustainable wind farm ever built so everything is measured.”
James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz
