Central Otago wind towers arrive

Eighteen second-hand over-size wind turbine tower sections and blades bound for a Central Otago power generation project were transported from Port Chalmers to Fairfield yesterday.

Pioneer Generation chief executive Peter Dowling, of Alexandra, said the tower sections and blades, which arrived by ship, would be installed at the Horseshoe Bend site, beside the company's existing hydro-electric power station, 15km east of Roxburgh, near Lake Onslow.

Central Otago contractors will put the three 40m towers together and Mr Dowling said the project was scheduled to be finished by late March.

The first power would be generated by the 750kw generators soon afterwards, he said.

Mr Dowling said the small wind farm project was costing several million dollars.

The 8-year-old tower sections and blades were manufactured and used in Germany before being sold to Japan.

Each blade weighs 2.5 tonnes, and each steel tower weighs more than 14 tonnes.

The three turbines should generate power year-round.

Resource consent for the project had been granted, Mr Dowling said.

"It is much smaller than [Meridian's] Project Hayes, and we are chasing a different market.

There were a couple of submissions against."

Fulton Hogan heavy haulage manager Mark McNeilly said seven trucks and six pilot vehicles were used to carry the 18 wind turbine components from Port Chalmers to Fulton Hogan's yard at Fairfield.

The length of the components meant over-length trucks were needed to transport them.

Turbine sections and blades would be transported by road to the Central Otago site in late March.