A 53-turbine wind farm on the Puketoi Range, 40km south of Dannevirke, has been given resource consent but there are no plans to build it.
The consent includes provision for a transmission line to link the Puketoi project to the National Grid. At full capacity, the proposed development could providesufficient electricity to power the equivalent of 150,000 homes.
Mighty River Power has previously indicated that with New Zealand's electricity demand back at 2008 levels, consented projects are unlikely to come to the market in the short term.
Mighty River Power's General Manager Development, Mark Trigg, said the future development option was at a site where the wind resource was of exceptional quality.
"Given the multi-year lead time to prepare opportunities and secure resource consents, we continue to take a long-term view, ensuring we are ready to commit to projects quickly as economic growth and, therefore, electricity demand recovers," he said.
"Our immediate focus is on the completion of the Ngatamariki geothermal plant near Taupo, which we expect to be commissioned in mid-2013."
Genesis Energy said it had no immediate plans to start building a $1.6 billion wind farm in northern Wairarapa's Castle Hill, which was granted consent two weeks ago. Meridian Energy holds consents for up to 75 turbines on the Maungaharuru Range, north of Te Pohue, that were granted in 2006.
Hawke's Bay's Unison has consent for a neighbouring development of 15 turbines.
