Raglan wind farm to power 30,000 homes

A hill-country farm near the small surfing town of Raglan is the latest site for a proposed wind farm.

The $140 million project that would generate enough electricity for 30,000 homes was about to go into its second stage after initial investigations were encouraging, said WEL Networks spokesman Mike Underhill.

If the planning permission process went smoothly, the 24-turbine farm could be operating by the end of 2008.

"From Raglan it will be 10km away and while visible from the high points in Raglan, it won't be dominant," he said.

Te Mata farmer Debbie Buchanan, whose property neighbours the proposed site, believes residents will back the plan.

"This is a fairly green, alternative-type area and it wouldn't be an eyesore because it's so far back," she said.

The wind farm site is about 3km inland from the southern side of State Highway 23 at Te Uku. The general store at Te Uku is about 10 minutes' drive from Raglan township.

The 100m-high turbines will generate 72MW of power and will be built on the hills of a large cattle farm close to a Telecom repeater station.

Mr Underhill said the company had put together a video and brochure showing exactly what the wind farm would look like which would "take the tension out of the debate".

Waikato District councillor Clint Baddeley said the project would give the environmentally aware residents of Raglan the chance to have the courage of their convictions.

"People either hate wind farms or love them but Raglan has the highest recycling rate in the country and given the farm's proximity, I wouldn't see too many objections," he said.

Mr Underhill said that because Hamilton-based WEL Networks was community-owned, residents could expect further power discounts if the plan went ahead and the electricity generated would help ensure security of supply in the largely rural area.

The WEL Energy Trust owns lines company WEL Networks and is in turn owned by the community. The trust hands out grants to community projects and returns some profits to householders.

The next stage of the project was a $2.5 million feasibility study on environmental effects and technical aspects which would be finished early next year, Mr Underhill said.

Wind farm projects at Makara near Wellington and Awhitu south of Auckland met strong opposition but after an Environment Court appeal by Genesis, the 18-turbine Awhitu farm was given the green light last year.