LEAD STORY: Huge new wind farms for Bay

Peter Gaston
Two huge wind farms, costing nearly $500 million and generating enough electricity to power 150,000 homes - the equivalent of three cities the size of Napier and Hastings combined - are planned near Te Pohue, about 40km north of Napier.
The bigger of the two, Hawke's Bay Wind Farm Ltd, will lodge an application for its $300 million project, producing enough electricity for up to 95,000 homes, with the Hastings District Council next month.
Its shareholders include Hawke's Bay businessman Andy Lowe, Wind Farm Developments and Tararua Wind Farm landowner Hall Block Resources Ltd.
The smaller 120MW farm, which would supply electricity to 55,000 homes, is being developed by Hawke's Bay-based lines company Unison, in partnership with Hydro Tasmania.
Unison will begin talking to Te Pohue residents on Tuesday and Hawke's Bay Wind Farm has organised an open day for residents at the Te Pohue Community Centre on April 27.
Wind Farm Developments director Alistair Wilson said the proposed farm would be on a 2500ha site across Waitara, Maunganui and Rock stations on the Titiokura summit.
Sixty to 80 turbines, producing up to 240mW of electricity, were planned.
Studies had confirmed the site on the Maungaharuru Range, mostly north of Titiokura summit, offered an excellent wind resource and was also close to the dual 220kv electricity transmission lines bringing electricity from Wairakei to Hawke's Bay.
The consent process could take up to nine months and construction up to a further year, meaning the farm would begin supplying power to the national grid by the end of next year or early in 2007.
The wind farm will not dominate the skyline to the same degree as Meridian Energy's Te Apiti development at Ashhurst. Only portions of the wind farm will be visible from State Highway 5.
Maunganui Station owner Reece Whitelock said the proposed wind farm was a significant boost for the Te Pohue community and offered employment opportunities.
During the construction phase up to 40 people will work on the project and when it was operating it would require six to 10 permanent maintenance staff.
Unison chief executive Ken Sutherland said the company had been interested in establishing a wind farm north of Te Pohue since 1995, but was not prepared to identify its site yet.
"We want to discuss it with residents first," he said. Its proposed 120mW development would staged, with the first phase involving 16 turbines, generating 48mW.
He expected the final feasibility work, including confirmation of wind readings from an 80m test mast, will be completed within the next year.