Final turbine rises in Turitea wind farm's northern stage
Friday, 22 October 2021
The northern stage of Mercury’s Turitea wind farm above Palmerston North is nearing completion, with turbine suppliers Vestas celebrating installation of the 33rd and final turbine in the group.
Vestas senior manager Kenn Wood said the company was proud of reaching the milestone in what had been a challenging project, battling complex terrain and weather on the ridges of the Tararua Range.
The first stage of the $465 million, 60-turbine wind farm had seen up to 180 construction workers on site investing 80,000 hours to instal the wind turbines.
They had moved 712,000 square metres of earth, and delivered 99 blades, 66 towers, 33 nacelles, hubs and drivetrains and a 160 tonne transformer to the site.
**READ MORE:
* New access route approved for turbine blades
* Turitea's first turbine catches a puff of wind to power up
* Turbines take shape on Tararua ridges
**
Getting the gear up the hill had been one of the key challenges, after a bypass route avoiding the tight corners of the Pahīatua Track failed.
The interim solution was the use of the blade manipulator for the first time in Australasia.
The tip and tilt trailer unit used by Smiths Cranes enabled the 55-metre-long blades to be raised and lowered and swivelled to navigate the route from central Palmerston North and around the bends until a hill-top route through established wind farms could be negotiated.
In a gesture to the local community, Vestas had given 1000 pool noodles used to buffer the wind turbine towers during installation to a range of schools and groups.
There was still more work to do on the site to complete and restore environmental protection works at the site which would continue to be maintained and operated by Vestas.
Environmental work during construction had included the capture, care and release of 16 native gecko, their six tiny offspring that arrived during captivity, and an ornate skink.
The wind farm milestone coincides with Mercury chief executive Vince Hawksworth calling for the Government to provide certainty to support the switch to renewable electricity generation.
He said the market was doing its bit to reduce reliance on fossil fuels and help decarbonise the economy.
The Turitea wind farm was one example.
Once fully commissioned, it would provide 840GW hours of renewable electricity every year, enough to power 375,000 electric vehicles.
It would be the largest wind farm in New Zealand.
Hawksworth said Government policies had helped make it happen.
“The design and location of the farm, the technology deployed, and even the blade types were chosen to achieve the most efficient generation and supply of renewable power.”
He said the industry was on track to meet the Climate Change Commission’s recommendations on the pace of building wind generation capacity, but it would require a new wind farm to be built every nine months through to 2050 to achieve net-zero carbon emissions.
“Without the right policy settings supporting ongoing renewable generation development, this will test the market’s capacity to meet demand.
“Mercury is up for the challenge.”
He said policy and certainty from the Government that supported long-term capital investment were needed.