Big-ticket items on way for wind farm

Construction of the Kaiwera Downs wind farm has reached the halfway point and, most importantly, the hardware which makes up the wind farm has arrived in the South.

Ground was broken on the $115 millon project, about 10km east of Mataura, six months ago.

Mercury said a key milestone was reached earlier this month when the 67m turbine blades and other turbine components arrived in South Port in Bluff.

Foundations for each turbine are well under way, ready for blades, towers and nacelles to be delivered to the site sometime this month.

Construction of the first stage of the wind farm is on track for completion in October this year — adding enough renewable energy to power about 21,000 households or run 66,000 electric vehicles.

"Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm I is on track to be generating renewable electricity within six months’ time," Mercury portfolio general manager Phil Gibson said.

"All on-site roads, crane pads and turbine foundations have been completed ready for the turbines to go up from the end of this month — that’s when you can really see the progress."

The main components will be delivered to the site by truck, and it is a big job.

"The longest load is the blades at around 67m and [the] heaviest load will be the base towers that weigh in at around 75 tonnes, so shout out to the team at McNulty’s who are going to be driving this precious cargo from Bluff to the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm."

The size of the components means they will travel different routes: all will go through Invercargill, but the blades will travel through Edendale while the towers and nacelles will travel through Gore due to the weight of the loads.

"Safety for other road users and the communities we will travel through is a priority.

"We have scheduled truck movements and continue through until the middle of June, usually during the early hours to minimise traffic disruption," Mr Gibson said.

"Construction commenced in October 2022 and the smooth delivery to date is a tribute to our delivery partners Vestas, Higgins, Electronet and Powernet, along with the Gore District Council, local businesses who have supported our teams, community members and landowners."

Infrastructure to send the electricity out to the grid is already in place, with underground electrical wiring installed, and the switch room connecting the wind farm to the grid ready for action.

Mercury is initially committing $115m to the 43MW Stage I phase of the project.

This lifts Mercury’s total commitment to new renewable wind generation to almost $600m since 2019, including Turitea in Manawatū that will be New Zealand’s biggest wind farm.

It will be commissioned next month.

The wind farms are part of a significant renewable growth pipeline for Mercury, with several other renewable projects under investigation as the transition to a lower carbon economy progresses.

This includes Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm II, the second part of the wind farm that will complete the 240MW that has been consented for the site.