Hauāuru mā raki - Waikato wind farm

New Zealand’s demand for energy is growing strongly at about two per cent per annum. The country needs large amounts of new electricity generation and, with concern growing about the effects of climate change, that electricity increasingly needs to come from renewable sources.

Contact Energy and a local wind farm developer, Wind Farm Group, are committed to developing environmentally friendly renewable generation projects and have joined forces to develop an important new electricity generation project harnessing renewable wind energy in areas of mainly coastal pastoral Waikato farmland.

The Waikato wind farm will be known as Hauāuru mā raki, meaning ‘north west wind’.

The wind farm area extends from south of Port Waikato along the remote western coast of the Waikato region to Te Akau South. View an image of the wind farm area - please be aware that this is a large (3MB) image.

The project has the potential to generate up to 540 MW of clean, renewable and climate-friendly electricity to power up to 200,000 average homes and will play an important role in meeting New Zealand’s energy security and climate change goals.

Resource consent hearings on this project before a Board of Inquiry were adjourned in May 2009 and will resume again in May 2010.

This website contains detailed information on the proposed project, including maps, photosimulations and contact details for people wishing to ask further questions.