Otago's first wind-generated electricity is likely to be
produced by the end of this week.
A small wind farm owned by Pioneer Generation could be
producing electricity by this weekend, Pioneer's chief
executive Peter Dowling said yesterday.
The project was "up and almost running" with work nearly
completed on installing on three 45m tall wind turbines on
land 15km east of Roxburgh between the Horseshoe Bend power
station and dam, on the south side of the Teviot River.
"As far as I'm aware, it will be the first wind-powered
generation in Otago, " Mr Dowling said.
The company received planning consent from the Central Otago
District Council for the operation two years ago. Foundations
for the towers were laid in January and February this year
and work resumed at the site in spring.
The land is 600m above sea level.
"It's been a big project, getting the towers on site, and
lots of planning went in, but it's all gone relatively
smoothly," he said.
The towers were transported in three sections to the site and
each blade is 45m in diameter. They were manufactured and
used in Europe and two people had travelled from Holland to
help the company install the towers.
The first generator should be running by this weekend, the
second one operational by the end of next week and the third
one soon after.
"At the moment they're up, but they've got the brakes on."
Each one could generate a maximum of 750kw, enough to provide
power for between 250 and 300 households, Mr Dowling said.
Pioneer already operates the Horseshoe Bend hydro-electric
generation facility in the area, so the infrastructure and
transmission lines were already in place. The towers were
placed on company land.
Mr Dowling declined to reveal the total cost of the project
but was reported earlier this year as saying it cost several
million dollars.
Pioneer also plans a nine-turbine wind farm at Mt Stuart ,
near Milton, generating between 5.5MW and 6.5MW.
• An Environment Court decision is still pending on Meridian
Energy's 176-turbine wind farm proposal for the Lammermoor
Range.
TrustPower is expected to announce early next year when it
will start building its $400 million, 200MW Mahinerangi wind
farm, which was granted resource consent by the Environment
Court last December.
- lynda.van.kempen@odt.co.nz
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