Project Hurunui is a proposed
wind farm
A wind farm or wind park, also called a wind power station or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used Wind power, to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundre ...
located between Omihi and
Greta Valley
Greta Valley is a town in North Canterbury, 83 km north of Christchurch, New Zealand. It was named after the River Greta in Yorkshire by local runholders Sir Charles Clifford and Sir Frederick Weld in the 1850s, but it is to the east ...
in north Canterbury,
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
.
Meridian Energy
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is ...
is developing the wind farm, which is planned to produce up to 75.9 MW from 2014.
The proposal is for a wind farm of 33 turbines, with maximum height of 130.5 metres, located on a 34 km² area on the east side of
State Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbere ...
.
Consent process
Meridian Energy began consultations on the project in April 2010. An informal survey of residents in the affected area showed that slightly more were in favour of the wind farm than those who were opposed.
The application for consents was lodged in February 2011, and notified in April 2011.
In June 2011, the
Hurunui District Council
Hurunui District Council ( mi, Ko te kaunihera ā rohe o Hurunui) is the territorial authority for the Hurunui District of New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of t ...
and the
Canterbury Regional Council
Environment Canterbury, frequently abbreviated to ECan. is the promotional name for the Canterbury Regional Council. It is the regional council for Canterbury, the largest region in the South Island of New Zealand. It is part of New Zealand's st ...
agreed to a request by Meridian that the wind farm proposal be referred to the
Environment Court
The Environment Court of New Zealand ( mi, Te Kōti Taiao o Aotearoa) is a specialist court for plans, resource consents and environmental issues. It mainly deals with issues arising under the Resource Management Act, meaning that it covers a w ...
. Consent was granted by the Environment Court in April 2013.
In February 2021 Meridian said that the company wanted to see more demand in the South Island before developing more generation there.
See also
*
Wind power in New Zealand
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of December 2020, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
New Zealand has abund ...
References
External links
Project Hurunuiat
Meridian Energy
Meridian Energy Limited is a New Zealand electricity generator and retailer. The company generates the largest proportion of New Zealand's electricity, generating 35 percent of the country's electricity in the year ending December 2014, and is ...
{{wind power, state=collapsed
Proposed wind farms in New Zealand
Canterbury, New Zealand