Hurunui Windfarm | |
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Country |
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Location | North Canterbury |
Coordinates | 42°59′33″S172°57′32″E / 42.992595°S 172.958794°E |
Status | Proposed; resource consent granted but has lapsed with time |
Owner(s) | Meridian Energy |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 33 |
Nameplate capacity | 76 MW [1] |
Project Hurunui is a proposed wind farm located between Omihi and Greta Valley in north Canterbury, New Zealand. Meridian Energy proposed the wind farm; in 2013 it received resource consent from the Environment Court, though this consent lapsed in 2023.
The proposal as of 2011 was for a wind farm of 33 turbines, with maximum height of 130.5 metres, located on a 34 km2 area on the east side of State Highway 1. [1]
Meridian Energy began consultations on the project in April 2010. [2] An informal survey of residents in the affected area showed that slightly more were in favour of the wind farm than those who were opposed. [3]
The application for consents was lodged in February 2011, [4] and notified in April 2011. [1] In June 2011, the Hurunui District Council and the Canterbury Regional Council agreed to a request by Meridian that the wind farm proposal be referred to the Environment Court. [5] Consent was granted by the Environment Court in April 2013, [6] though one of the conditions was that the consent lapsed if "not given effect to within ten years". [7]
In February 2021 Meridian said that the company wanted to see more demand in the South Island before developing more generation there. [8] which is planned to produce up to 75.9 MW from 2014. [9]
As of 2024, the Hurunui project does not appear in Meridian's webpage of projects. [10]
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