New Hawke’s Bay wind farm: Five months on the road to Harapaki

Pacific Endeavour unloading the first blade for the Harapaki wind farm in Napier in March. The consequences of Cyclone Gabrielle mean transporting components to the site is only now starting, but generation should begin in October. Photo / Warren Buckland

More than three months of almost daily trucking to transport turbines to the new Harapaki Wind Farm northwest of Napier is beginning, with the first of the overlength loads due on the highway pre-dawn on Thursday.

Meridian Energy says in a newsletter to residents and stakeholders the 50km trips from storage in Austin St, Onekawa, to the State Highway 5 Maungaharuru Range wind farm site between Te Pohue and Te Haroto will take place six days a week and are expected to end by early January.

There will be two over-dimension loads each morning between 3am and 7am, carrying the 59-metre blades and the 36m tower sections, with other smaller components being transported at other times.

The first of the componentry to arrive in Napier landed at the port in March, but despite the loss of three months from the consequences of Cyclone Gabrielle in February, the first electricity generated at Harapaki is expected to be produced in October and full production, with 41 turbines in use and capable of powering 70,000 homes, is expected to be achieved in September next year.

Meridian chief executive Neal Barclay says Cyclone Gabrielle’s widespread and extensive damage to Hawke’s Bay and other east coast regions in February included impacts on access roading and to the civil construction programme at Harapaki.

The transmission grid in Hawke’s Bay also suffered significant damage and the need for substantial repairs to State Highway 5 - which was closed for five weeks in February and March to all traffic apart from essential services and residential access - delayed the transport of turbine componentry.

“Cyclone Gabrielle created some significant challenges for this project, just as it did other projects, assets and communities,” he said, thanking state highways management agency Waka Kotahi NZTA and grid managers Transpower for the work they and contractors had done in “getting us in a position to move componentry to site so we can move forward with turbine installation”.

Meridian does not currently expect the delay caused by Cyclone Gabrielle to have any significant impact on the project capital costs of $448 million and an update will be provided as part of the company’s annual results announcement in late August, Barclay said.