Manawa gains rights to develop 230MW Central NI wind farm

Manawa has been given consent for a wind farm near Taihape.

NZX-listed Manawa Energy has secured rights to develop a 230-megawatt wind generation project in the central North Island, between Taihape and Waiouru.

Manawa Energy chief executive David Prentice said the project on a well-known and highly regarded site for a potential windfarm.

“Project Huriwaka ticks a lot of the big boxes in that we already know it has high-quality wind, convenient access to transmission, good construction characteristics and is relatively close to significant demand for electricity.”

If it proceeded, the wind development was expected to generate around 800 gigawatt hours of electricity each year – enough to power 100,000 average New Zealand homes, Manawa said.

Design work on what the wind farm might look like had not been completed, but the site has previously been consented for around 50 wind turbines across 47 square kilometres of privately-owned rural land.

Prentice said Project Huriwaka was a key initiative in Manawa Energy’s 970 megawatt pipeline of new, renewable wind and solar development options.

“We know Aotearoa New Zealand needs a huge amount of investment in renewable generation over the coming decades and projects like this align with our strategy and will ensure we are playing our part in meeting the rising tide of demand for electricity.”

Full development of the project was expected to take at least three years.

An indicative timeline for the project would be reliant on the findings of project studies and assessments, feedback from consultation, consenting timelines and market dynamics.

“We have secured the key land access rights and we are now under way with iwi and stakeholder consultation, design, environmental assessments and network connection activity,” Prentice said.

Shares in Manawa, formerly Trustpower, last traded at $4.91. The stock has dropped by about 29 per cent over the last 12 months.