The next stage in a $1 billion Southland wind farm has been reached.
A resource consent application for the Slopedown wind farm was lodged with the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) yesterday.
The application came after the project became eligible for fast-tracked consenting earlier this year. Then minister of conservation David Parker approved the fast tracking.
Now it has been lodged the EPA will convene a panel of experts to assess the application. It will be significantly faster than the normal resource consent process as the panel of experts selects who it wants to hear from and no hearing is organised.
Contact Energy head of wind and solar Matthew Cleland said in an email the application could take about six months to be processed.
"From here the EPA will be reviewing the application before it is published on their website, which will likely be in mid to late January 2024," Mr Cleland said.
The fast-track consenting process was quicker than going through the usual resource management process, he said.
Community involvement had been key in getting the project to this stage, he said.
"We appreciate the comments and feedback provided by the community in preparing this application and if you have any questions on the project we can still be contacted."
The company held community days and one-on-one interviews and had details of the project on its website, Mr Cleland said
Since May it had hosted six community open days and meetings.
The wind farm was planned to be built east of Wyndham. Fifty-five wind turbines would be built over 5800ha.
If the consents were approved it was hoped construction would be under way by 2025 and the wind farm operational by 2027, he said.
It was expected to produce between 900GWh and 1200GWh per year of electricity, which would be enough electricity to power 150,000 households or Fonterra’s Edendale site.
The idea for the farm was first proposed in 2008, as it was seen as a "prime place" to build a wind farm.
