The Waverley wind project is a 130MW onshore wind project proposed to be developed approximately 8km from Waverley, South Taranaki, New Zealand. It will be located close to the nearby town of Patea.
The project is owned and will be operated by Waverley Wind Farm Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tilt Renewables.
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Estimated to cost approximately $300m, the project will produce 460 gigawatt hour (GWh) of energy a year, which will be sufficient to power approximately 57,000 households. It is estimated to offset 270,000t of CO2 emissions, which is the equivalent of removing 56,000 cars from the roads.
The project is expected to create 150 jobs during the construction period, in addition to three full-time jobs over its operational life of 30 years.
Waverley wind project development
Allco Wind Energy NZ initially developed the Waverley wind project, but halted the development in 2009 and eventually sold it to Trustpower in 2010.
Trustpower initially proposed to develop the project with 48 turbines and secured the consent for a ten-year term. The project was transferred to Tilt Renewables, following court approval for the demerger and listing of the Australian and New Zealand wind businesses of Trustpower.
The New Zealand Government approved the project development in July 2017. Construction is expected to be started by December 2019 upon financial closure, while commissioning is planned to be completed in September 2021.
Waverley wind project make-up
Located approximately 6km south-east of Patea, the Waverley wind project will be spread over an area of 980ha. It will be installed with 31 wind turbines to generate 130MW of renewable energy.
The maximum height of the turbine will be 160m above ground level, while the blade tip is proposed to have a minimum height of 30m above ground.
Power purchase agreement
Genesis Energy signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Tilt Renewables, in May 2019, to offtake the entire power generated by the Waverley wind farm.
Transmission of power
The power generated by the wind farm will be evacuated to Transpower’s 110kV grid at Waverley substation through an 11km-long transmission line. Monopiles 14m above the ground level will be used along the Swinbourne Street and Fookes Street route, while 22m-high monopiles will be used for the remainder of the route.
Waverley wind project infrastructure
Access to the project site is by road through the State Highway 3 (SH3) and thereafter through the Oturi and Waverley Beach road.
Major development works at the project will include the construction of wind turbines, turbine platforms, and foundation areas.
Support infrastructure will include a substation, access roads, operations and maintenance building, six 110m-tall wind monitoring masts, and a 7,500m² batching plant.
New Zealand’s wind power scenario
New Zealand is currently generating 690MW of electricity from 17 active wind farms. Genesis Energy developed and is operating the nations’ first wind farm Hau Nui wind farm, a 15-turbine project located in the South Wairarapa district of New Zealand.
New Zealand proposes to generate approximately 20% of the total electricity generated in the country from wind by 2035. It approved wind farms of approximately 2.5GW capacity to achieve the target.
