Kākāriki Renewables is to hold an information session in Winton this Friday, outlining its plans for a new wind farm in central Southland, near Ohai.
It did not respond to questions from the Otago Daily Times, but the company’s website outlines its plans, which seem well advanced.
The wind farm would be on 2900ha of land near Ohai, about 50km north of Invercargill.
Forty-eight turbines would be erected among trees on the site, which is mostly covered in forestry.
At its peak the wind farm would be able to produce 346MW of power, which could power up to 160,000 homes.
The company said the area had a strong wind resource — nearly 10m per second on average.
Kākāriki Renewables is an Australian-owned company that was registered with the Companies Office in April last year. It is owned by Energy Estate, based in Sydney.
The company has plans for solar and wind farms and battery storage projects around New Zealand.
On its website it said the project had reached the development stage.
It had carried out the feasibility stage where it would test whether the site was good enough for a wind farm.
The development stage would encompass planning approvals, community and iwi engagement, and commercial agreements.
If developed it would join a raft of large wind farms in the South that could collectively produce more than 1000MW — more than the Manapouri power station — though all reaching capacity at one time is unlikely because of the sporadic nature of wind.
Mercury Energy opened the first stage of its Kaiwera Downs wind farm, near Mataura, in November, 2023 with 10 turbines producing up to 43MW.
The second stage of construction started last year and is set to be completed in March next year, with 36 turbines producing up to 155MW.
Mercury’s wind farm at Mahinerangi opened in 2011. A proposed second stage would have 44 turbines, producing up to 190MW and an annual generation of about 550GWh.
Contact Energy has proposed a 55-turbine wind farm at Slopedown near Wyndham, expected to produce about 1200GWh.
Contact initially opted to use Covid-19 fast track legislation, but was turned down in March last year. It has reapplied under the Fast Track Approvals Act and the application is set to be sent to government ministers next month.
In South Otago, Pioneer Energy and Contact Energy have conducted information sessions over the past few months for their proposed Kaihiku wind farm which could have as many as 73 turbines of up to 215m in height, extending along hills beside State Highway 1 from Balclutha to beyond Clinton.
The 300MW project would cost $900m and provide for 135,000 households when built. No consent applications have been lodged yet.
Contact Energy joined the project last year, becoming a 50% stakeholder.
Pioneer Energy also has a proposal for a smaller wind farm, of up to 35MW, near Fiordland National Park.
That wind farm is expected to have up to eight turbines and would be in the Jericho area in Southland.
