Te Uku
If you have any questions not answered here, please email them to us at windfarm@wel.co.nz and we will respond as soon as possible.
Te Uku Wind Farm
What is the Te Uku Wind Farm project?
Where is the site for the proposed wind farm?
Who would own and operate the wind farm?
Who is WEL Networks?
Is the wind farm certain to go ahead?
What is involved in the feasibility study?
How long will the study take and who is doing it?
When does the company intend applying for resource consents?
Has the company already done any testing at Te Uku for the proposed wind farm?
If the company does decide to proceed, and resource consents are granted, when is it expected that the wind farm would be operational?How many turbines will it have?
How high would the turbines be?
Where will the turbines be manufactured?
How would the turbines be delivered to the site?
How much power would they generate?
Where would they be visible from?
What is the situation with noise from the wind farm?
How would the power get from the wind farm to the end user?
Would the wind farm affect my television or radio signals?
Would the wind turbines cause flicker or cause glare?
Will there be any danger to birds?
Is this the only wind farm that the company is planning?
Would construction have any effect on natural features like the Bridal Veil Falls?
Would there be a lot of construction traffic?
Would the construction company need to close any roads?
How safe are wind farms is there any likelihood of a turbine falling over like the one at Gebbies Pass in the South Island?
Is this the total development proposed for this site or would there be more turbines in the future?
Would there be any local jobs created by either the construction of the wind farm, or its operation?
Who would give the company permission to build and operate the wind farm if it goes ahead?
Would they hold any hearings?
How long would any resource consents be valid for?
If we want to support the proposal, how do we go about it?
What if I do not support the proposal? What opportunity will I have to oppose the project?Are there other wind farms in New Zealand and if so where are they?
What will WEL be doing to keep the community informed of progress?
What is the Te Uku Wind Farm project?
WEL Networks (WEL), your community trust owned electricity lines company, is planning a $140 million wind farm at Te Uku, between Hamilton and Raglan.
Where is the site for the proposed wind farm?
The wind farm, if it proceeds, will be on the Wharauroa Plateau, about three km from State Highway 23 at Te Uku between Hamilton and Raglan. You can see an existing Telecom repeater on the site, to the south of SH23. The final site is conditional on the outcome of the $2.5 million feasibility study.
Who would own and operate the wind farm?
The wind farm would be owned and operated by WEL on land leased from the current property owners.
Who is WEL Networks?
WEL Networks (WEL) owns the power lines that deliver electricity to homes, business and farms in Hamilton City, Waikato District and a small part of the Waipa District. There are around 80,000 connections to the WEL network. WEL is 100 per cent owned by a community trust, the WEL Energy Trust (Trust) which is elected every three years. It holds the shares of WEL in trust for the Hamilton City Council and the Waikato and Waipa District Councils. Since its establishment in 1992, WEL Trust has provided more than $40 million in community grants, with almost a million dollars going to Raglan area groups. In 2002, at the request of the Trust, WEL introduced a line charge discount. Since then discounts of around $36 million have been returned to customers. A record discount of $21 million (average $260 per residential customer) will be credited to customers' accounts in April-June 2006. Both the Trust and the company are committed to providing a reliable power supply to all customers at a cost efficient price. The proposed wind farm will help WEL keep pace with the growth in demand for electricity from the booming Waikato region, in an economical and environmentally friendly way.
Is the wind farm certain to go ahead?
Whether the wind farm proceeds is dependent entirely on the outcome of the major feasibility study and resource consent applications.
What is involved in the feasibility study?
The feasibility study will cover technical aspects like whether there is enough wind, and how often it blows; whether the wind turbines can be transported to the site and erected without the costs being too high; and how much the electricity produced can be sold for. Any one of these aspects could make the project uneconomic.
How long will the study take and who is doing it?
The feasibility study is expected to be completed in early 2007. This study includes indepth research into geotechnical aspects, such as whether there is enough material on site for the concrete wind turbine platforms and the access roads. WEL will be commissioning specialist consultant firms to carry out the feasibility study to ensure that the final go/no go decision is made on the best information available.
When does the company intend applying for resource consents?
The initial studies already carried out by the company have given it enough confidence to start the processes required to lodge applications with the Waikato District Council and Environment Waikato for the required resource consents. A major part of this process is full public consultation and there will be plenty of opportunities for those interested, for or against, to make their views known, formally or informally.
It is expected that the formal resource consent applications will be lodged late in 2006.
Has the company already done any testing at Te Uku for the proposed wind farm?
Yes. There has been wind monitoring equipment on site for almost a year. It has been measuring wind speed and direction up to 50 metres above the ground, and shows the site justifies carrying out a full feasibility study, including measuring wind speed at the 80-metre level.
If the company does decide to proceed, and resource consents are granted, when is it expected that the wind farm would be operational?
If all goes as planned, the wind farm would be fully operational in late 2008.
How many turbines will it have?
Pre-feasibility studies show that the best layout for the wind farm would support 24 wind turbines.
How high would the turbines be?
Testing to date has shown the most efficient wind turbines for the site would be 80 metres high at the hub with 45 metre radius blade sweep. The total height will be 125 metres. (Each turbine will have three blades each 45 metres long).
Where will the turbines be manufactured?
No decisions can be made yet as to what brand of wind turbine to use and, because wind farm technology is moving rapidly, it is not possible to say yet where the wind turbines will be manufactured, except that it will probably be overseas. The wind turbines will be of tried and proven design.
How would the turbines be delivered to the site?
It is likely that they would be transported by road from either the Port of Auckland or Port of Tauranga. The final route would be decided by how many bridges have to be crossed, and which route offers the easiest passage for the long wind turbine towers.
How much power would they generate?
It is expected that each turbine would have a maximum output of three megawatts or three million watts of electricity. It is anticipated from pre-testing that the wind farm could generate up to 72 megawatts of electricity at any time, or enough to supply around 30,000 average domestic homes. This would displace about 190,000 tonnes annually of carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be produced by coal or gas fired power stations.
Where would they be visible from?
One or more of the wind turbines would be visible from many places, but their impact becomes less with every kilometre of distance away from the wind farm. This means the sites that could theoretically see all 24 turbines may be so far away that it might be difficult to see them at all in some weather conditions. Normally wind turbines are coloured white or light grey because these colours allow the wind turbines to blend in better in most weather conditions. There is no doubt, however, that the wind turbines would be visible within a radius of 10 km, for those who have direct line of sight. In some cases, only the tops of the wind turbines may be visible to some properties. WEL has commissioned a specialist company to produce a computer-generated film showing the visual effects from a number of locations in the area. This film can be viewed on the WEL website www.wel.co.nz and will be shown at the public meetings being organised by the company.
What is the situation with noise from the wind farm?
Modern wind turbines are generally very quiet from a mechanical perspective, but the blades do make a sound as they turn in the wind. The noise of a wind turbine at 350 metres is likely to be between 40-50 decibels, below the level of noise created by normal conversation (60 decibels) at one metre, for example. Any resource consents granted for the wind farm would require any noise created by the turbines to be below a certain level at the boundary of the wind farm. In the case of this proposed wind farm, the only residential properties close enough to hear any noise at all belong to the land owners involved.
How would the power get from the wind farm to the end user?
The electricity generated by the wind farm would need to be transported back to the Transpower grid connection at the current Te Kowhai site.
At this stage it is planned to connect the wind farm into the existing power line going to Raglan and, in addition, construct another line back to the substation at Te Kowhai. This additional line will be built using standard power poles. A key outcome will be improved security of supply for the Raglan area.
Would the wind farm affect my television or radio signals?
If any of the wind turbines was close to your home and within direct line of sight of the radio or television transmitter, there is a possibility of some electrical interference being caused. However, the site is remote and not near residential areas. If there were any cases where this did occur, WEL would work with the property owners to overcome the problem.
Would the wind turbines cause flicker or cause glare?
Modern wind turbines do not cause flicker or glare.
Will there be any danger to birds?
Assessing the risk to any birds, or other flora and fauna will be an important part of the resource consent studies, but at this stage it is not expected to be a problem at the proposed wind farm site.
Is this the only wind farm that the company is planning?
WEL is in the very preliminary stages of considering another wind farm site within its geographical area. The company's research to date has shown there are very few suitable sites within its area, and so there will not be a proliferation of wind farms built in the WEL area.
Would construction have any effect on natural features like the Bridal Veil Falls ?
All construction work would be governed by strict resource consent conditions to be monitored by Environment Waikato. Before granting any resource consents, Environment Waikato would need to be completely satisfied that there would be no adverse off-site effects created by the wind farm construction.
Would there be a lot of construction traffic?
The amount of construction traffic would depend on how much material there is available on-site for concrete making and roading. Preliminary estimates suggest that there is a good source of local material, so this would limit the amount of construction traffic off-site. It is expected that a batching plant would be built on-site, so the number of trucks travelling to and from the site would be reduced. It is expected that about 60 to 100 people would be working on-site at the peak construction period.
Would the construction company need to close any roads?
It is not intended that any roads will be closed. However, there will be a need for traffic control when transporting some of the turbine components, such as the blades, to the site. All of the components would be transported "road legal", so the impact on road users is likely to be no worse than when a house is being shifted; ie very short term delays as the transporters move through. WEL would ensure that the users of the State Highway were well informed when traffic control was likely. All road transport is subject to approval by the LTSA.
How safe are wind farms - is there any likelihood of a turbine falling over like the one at Gebbies Pass in the South Island ?
Modern wind turbines are structurally very strong and, provided they are operated correctly, it is very unlikely that a failure of the type that occurred in the South Island could happen at the proposed site. Preliminary studies of the wind strength also suggest a much more stable environment than that which exists at Gebbies Pass. The Gebbies Pass wind turbine was also a prototype and WEL is proposing to use well proven designs that have already been well tested elsewhere in New Zealand and overseas.
In addition, by the time any order was placed for wind turbines for this proposed wind farm, the manufacturers would have the benefit of solid operational data from other wind farms in New Zealand to ensure that they were the safest and most efficient units available.
Is this the total development proposed for this site or would there be more turbines in the future?
The wind farm would be developed in one stage, and the preliminary studies suggest that 24 is the maximum number of wind turbines that could be sited there, give or take one or two.
What could happen is that the original turbines proposed could be replaced at a later stage by more efficient units, but any major change would require further resource consent applications.
Would there be any local jobs created by either the construction of the wind farm, or its operation?
It is expected that much of the basic construction work could be tendered for by local companies, and there is the possibility of local manufacture for the wind turbine towers. But erection of the actual wind turbines is a specialist business, and would probably involve overseas experts. When operational, the wind farm would be remotely operated from the WEL control room in Hamilton, but there will always be maintenance workers on site at the wind farm.
Who would give the company permission to build and operate the wind farm if it goes ahead?
Waikato District Council has the major responsibility for deciding whether the wind farm can proceed. They would be governed by the requirements of the District Plan in making their decisions. Environment Waikato could also be involved in issuing resource consents controlling the actual construction and ongoing operation of the wind farm.
Would they hold any hearings?
Because a wind farm requires approval under the operational and proposed Waikato District Plans, there would be hearings at which both the company and other interested parties would be able to make submissions. Once the Waikato District Council made a decision, parties for and against could appeal those decisions if they consider them to be unfair.
How long would any resource consents be valid for?
Any resource consents issued for wind farms remain valid for as long as the wind farm is operational with the same or similar wind turbines for which the consents were granted. However, most wind farms work on a 20-year project life, when the existing wind turbines would either be replaced with new technology or taken down.
If any new wind turbines operate outside the limits set in the original resource consents, then the company would either have to apply for a variation or seek new consents.
If we want to support the proposal, how do we go about it?
Over the coming months, there will be wide public consultation with all of the people and parties who are likely to be affected directly or indirectly by the proposed wind farm. As part of that process, any supporters identified will be given an information pack that explains how to go about making a submission to the Waikato District Council and/or Environment Waikato when resource consent applications are lodged.
What if I do not support the proposal? What opportunity will I have to oppose the project?
The same information pack that explains about how to make a submission will be available for all parties, regardless of whether they support or oppose the project.
Are there other wind farms in New Zealand and if so where are they?
At this time there are five operational wind turbine sites with an installed capacity of 170 MW, and there are at least 11 more already announced with a potential output of 1200 MW in the pipeline.
What will WEL be doing to keep the community informed of progress?
WEL is committed to keeping the community fully informed of progress. There will be newsletters and face-to-face briefings as appropriate with those closer to the site as the feasibility study is completed and decisions made to proceed further or not. There will also be full public engagement during the pre-resource consent application period.
Last updated: Tuesday, 24 October 2006
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