Hawke’s Bay has become a real technological hub. For decades leading-edge agri-tech has been developed on the Heretaunga Plains to aid its farmers and growers. Rockets are regularly launched into orbit (and to the moon) from Mahia Peninsula, and now, with Meridian’s new Harapaki Wind Farm, on the Napier-Taupō Road, Hawke’s Bay has its own renewable, environmentally friendly power-generating site.
Covering 10 square kilometers along the top of the Maungaharuru Range, just north of Te Pohue, Harapaki is New Zealand’s second-largest wind farm. At roughly 1,100 meters above sea level, it is also the country’s highest.
It was fully commissioned by Meridian in July on time and within budget. In its first full week of operation Harapaki exceeded 170MW of generation several times and set a new Meridian record, with a daily mean of 156.6MW produced.
One thing that makes Harapaki special is its wind turbines – they’re Siemens direct-drive Typhoon-class turbines with no gearbox between the blades and the generator, making them more efficient and reliable than other turbines.
“Typhoon class turbines were originally designed for offshore wind farms and require less maintenance. This model of turbine is available only in New Zealand and Japan,” says Chris More, Meridian Energy’s Head of Renewable Construction and Harapaki project overseer.
The Harapaki Wind Farm can produce a maximum of 176 megawatts of renewable energy, which is enough to power over 70,000 homes – roughly the equivalent of every household in Hawke’s Bay.
Harapaki will not, of course, be a power producer for our region exclusively.
Its location is adjacent to Transpower’s national grid lines that run between Wairaki, near Taupō, and Redclyffe, on the outskirts of Taradale in Napier. This means it can provide much needed power supply resilience to the North Island and beyond.
As anyone who had to wait for just one of the wind turbine blades to pass while they were being transported by road from the Port of Napier to the Harapaki site will know, these turbines are HUGE!
The towers alone are 85 meters high, and the diameter of the blades’ rotation is 120m. From ground to vertical blade tip, they stand 145 meters high – it’s no wonder you can see them from as far away as Napier!
Shortly after it was commissioned, Meridian invited me up to view the wind farm first-hand. To see these 41 giant wind turbines up-close on site and stand underneath one of them while it slowly spun made even my 6’8” tall frame feel tiny.
By the People, For the People
Construction of the Harapaki Wind Farm involved a million ‘man-hours’ of work, with around 2,500 people inducted onto the site during the project, roughly half of those being workers from Hawke’s Bay. The on-site security who greet you when you arrive on site are Te Pohue locals.
When Cyclone Gabrielle hit the region in February 2023, Meridian used the resources available on site and through their company’s networks to assist locals. That included flying in much-needed supplies and redeploying the site’s earthmoving equipment to help with clearing parts of State Highway 5 that had been blocked or washed out by the storm.
Meridian aims to assist locals further with its ‘Power Up Fund’ which provides financial support to community groups in areas where they generate power. It allows community groups to apply for grant funding that can go towards things like community swimming pools, firefighting equipment, tree-planting and other local initiatives.
“Harapaki shows we have the capability to deliver. We’ve got a world-class renewable construction team backed by a great group of contractors. What they’ve achieved in the face of Covid-19 and multiple weather events is truly outstanding,” says Guy Waipara, Meridian’s General Manager Development.
Did you ask Meridian what their plans are for the disposal of those massive turbine blades when they reach the end of their useful lives?
As you point out, they are big and I’m not sure that anyone in HB wants a hole in the ground in our landfills, or anywhere else in the bay, big enough to accommodate those….
In the event of another Cyclone Gabriel can we be sure we have electricity security to prevent power outages?