New Zealand is regarded as the "Saudi Arabia of wind" and is
perfect for wind farm energy production, an Environment Court
appeal hearing in Cromwell was told yesterday.
Meridian Energy wind technical strategy manager Paul Botha,
of Wellington, said the 92sq km site proposed for Project
Hayes was one of the best he had seen in 14 years of working
on wind energy projects around the world.
"Wind farm sites of the size and wind quality of Project
Hayes are rare in New Zealand and internationally. I don't
believe there is another site in the country which has the
same or comparable qualities and is matched by only a few
others in the world," he said.
Mr Botha designed the layout of Project Hayes, which
comprises 176 turbines on the Lammermoor Range.
He said the discovery of a high wind resource suitable for
energy production on and around the Lammermoor Range was made
by the late Dr Keith Dawber in 1979.
Dr Dawber, of the University of Otago physics department,
collected wind data from the area for 12 years until 1991,
for the New Zealand Energy Research and Development Committee
and later Electricorp Production.
Mr Botha said the average wind speed over the Project Hayes
site was more than 8m per sec at an 80m height.
Turbines on the site will be 100m tall with a blade length of
60m.
At least seven wind turbine manufacturers will be considered
by Meridian for Project Hayes, including Enercon, GE Wind
Systems, Nordex, RePower, Siemens, Suzlon, and Vestas.
During cross-examination by Upland Landscape Protection
Society counsel Ewan Carr, Mr Botha agreed to make available
additional wind data collected by Meridian on the proposed
Project Hayes site.
Mr Carr asked to be provided with temperatures recorded on
wind monitoring masts at different heights, as well as a
breakdown of which data (already supplied) was raw and which
was synthesised.
Meridian counsel Andrew Beatson asked for the data to remain
confidential, which Judge Jon Jackson allowed.
The data will only be supplied to participant parties of the
appeal hearing, and can only be provided by them to
independent experts for review, in aid of the court
proceedings.
