Wairarapa sites eyed for more wind farms

Genesis Energy is considering more wind farms in Wairarapa, with one area near Masterton holding the potential to produce hundreds of megawatts of power, far more than Wellington's new West Wind project.

Genesis was working on "pre-feasibility studies" on two large Wairarapa wind projects, chief executive Albert Brantley said in Wellington yesterday.

"It is still very early stages, but we are expanding the scope of what we are considering," he said.

Genesis has the Hau Nui 15-turbine wind farm near Martinborough, one of the first wind farms built in New Zealand. The Masterton farm could dwarf it.

"We have a large project, just east of Masterton, at Castle Hill, with 20,000 hectares."

Genesis had environmental and engineering studies under way and wind masts erected for on-site monitoring, Mr Brantley said.

With 20,000 hectares of land, the wind farm could be "as big as you want".

Castle Hill would be done in stages, but it could be "hundreds of megawatts", he said.

Meridian Energy's West Wind project at Makara near Wellington has 62 turbines with the potential to produce a total of 143 megawatts, enough to power 70,000 homes.

The Castle Hill land was a mixture of leased, privately owned and forestry land.

"We already have land-owner agreements in place," Mr Brantley said.

Genesis is also looking at the potential for Haunui 3, just west of the existing wind farm.

"None of them is in the permitting stage. We are doing background work but we are pretty positive about it. I keep telling them, do more, get busier," Mr Brantley said.

Some Martinborough locals are objecting to Meridian Energy's proposal to build a 50-turbine wind farm along a ridge about eight kilometres southeast of the town, though Meridian has not yet committed to seeking resource consents.

- © Fairfax NZ News