Mill Creek Wind Farm

Mill Creek Wind Farm is a wind farm in the Ohariu Valley near Wellington, New Zealand.[1]

Mill Creek Wind Farm
CountryNew Zealand
Locationwest of Johnsonville, Wellington
Coordinates41°12′44″S 174°44′20″E
StatusOperational
Construction beganAugust 2012
Commission datemid-2014
Owner(s)Meridian Energy
Wind farm
TypeOnshore
Rotor diameter82.4 m (270 ft)
Power generation
Units operational26
Make and modelSiemens Wind Power: SWT-2.3-82 VS
Nameplate capacity59.8 MW

The wind farm is operated by Meridian Energy and has 26 wind turbines. [2]

The application for resource consents described the project as having a total capacity of up to 71.3MW.[3][4][5] The wind farm will cover an area of approximately 18 km² and use 31 Siemens 2.3MW wind turbines.[4] A 33,000-volt power line will connect the wind farm to Transpower's Wilton substation, where the farm's electricity will be injected into both Wellington Electricity's local distribution network and the national grid.

The resource consents were granted in February 2009[6] with conditions, including a limit of 29 turbines and a maximum height of 111m. Local Ohariu Valley residents who opposed the development lodged an appeal to the Environment Court.[7] In August 2011, the Environment Court approved the resource consents for the project, subject to a limit of 26 turbines.[8]

Construction began in late 2012, and the first electricity was generated in May 2014.[9] It became fully operational in October 2014. [10]

See also

References
  1. "Wind Farms". Wellington City Council. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  2. "Meridian's new windfarm open". Dominion-Post. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  3. Kay Blundell (30 January 2008). "Turbine farm for Ohariu Valley". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  4. Rachel Pawson & Lisa Hayes (30 July 2008). "Report to the Resource Consents Hearing Committee" (PDF). Wellington City Council. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
  5. "Notified Resource Consent". Wellington City Council. Archived from the original on October 14, 2008. Retrieved 4 March 2009.
  6. "Mill Creek Wind Farm Decision Released". Wellington City Council. 18 February 2009. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
  7. NZPA (19 February 2009). "Wellington's second wind farm gets go-ahead". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 19 February 2009.
  8. "Ohariu Valley wind farm approval irks opponents". Dominion-Post. 17 August 2011. Retrieved 17 August 2011.
  9. "Meridian Energy: Blowing in the wind". New Zealand Herald. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
  10. "Mill Creek Wind Farm". Higgins Group Holdings Limited. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
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