The Tararua Wind Farm is a
wind farm
A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...
owned and operated by
Mercury NZ Ltd. It is located on 700ha of farmland on the
Tararua Ranges
The Tararua Range, often referred to as the Tararua Ranges or Tararua, is one of several mountain ranges in the North Island of New Zealand.
The Tararua Range runs northeast–southwest for from near Palmerston North to the upper reaches of ...
of
New Zealand
New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
. It has become New Zealand's largest capacity wind farm, with a total capacity of 161MW.
The wind farm was first commissioned in 1999 and has been upgraded twice since. The most recent addition was commissioned in September 2007.
The wind farm consists of 134
turbines
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful work. The work produced can be used for generating electrical ...
of two different types:
*103
Vestas
Vestas Wind Systems A/S is a Danish manufacturer, seller, installer, and servicer of wind turbines that was founded in 1945. The company operates manufacturing plants in Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, India, Italy, Romania, the Un ...
V47 turbines, each rated at 660 kW, with three 23.5m long blades. Each turbine is mounted on a 40m high steel lattice tower.
*31 Vestas V90-3MW turbines, each rated at 3 MW with three 45m long blades.
The V47 turbines connect into Powerco's Palmerston North distribution network via twin 33,000-volt lines. The V90 turbines connect into Transpower's national grid via a tee off one circuit of the Bunnythorpe to Linton 220,000-volt transmission line.
On 6 October 2021, one of the V90 turbines caught fire. Five turbines in the same cluster were taken out of service due to the fire.
See also
*
Te Āpiti Wind Farm
*
Te Rere Hau Wind Farm
Te Rere Hau is a wind farm owned and operated by New Zealand Windfarms Ltd. It is situated on the Tararua Ranges, approximately 11 km east of Palmerston North in New Zealand.
*
Wind farm
A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...
*
Wind power in New Zealand
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of November 2023, wind power accounts for 1,059 MW of installed capacity and over 6 percent of electricity generated in the country.
New Zealand has ab ...
References
Buildings and structures in Manawatū-Whanganui
Wind farms in New Zealand
Tararua Range
{{NewZealand-powerstation-stub