Helping with Mercury's Kaiwaikawe wind farm
Location: Omamari, 12km north-west of Dargaville
Start Date: December 2024
Completion Date: December 2026
Northpower’s part: Construction of transmission line connecting the wind farm to the grid, and adjusting network road crossings to allow for transport of the turbines on to site
A big project for Northland
Northpower have been contracted to build Mercury’s electricity assets around their Kaiwaikawe Wind Farm at Omamari, 12km north of Dargaville.
The total cost of the Mercury project is $287million and is scheduled to have the first generation operational in mid-2026, reaching full generation capacity by the end of 2026. The wind farm will have 12 turbines; seven in the northern cluster of the development and five turbines in the southern cluster. These turbines will be the largest and tallest in New Zealand.
Using our specialist skills and knowledge
The work Mercury has contracted Northpower to do as part of this exciting renewable energy project is our specialty and is also quite unique.
Northpower are involved in constructing the transmission line connecting the wind farm to the grid. This involves upgrading the Dargaville substation to increase capacity to handle the increased power flow. The wind farm will connect to Northpower’s substation near Dargaville, and then on to the national grid at Maungatapere.
Modifying power lines to allow high load transport of turbines
Northpower will be modifying (raising, putting underground or shifting) around 190 power line road crossings to allow for the high load transport of the turbines on to site. The turbines and towers are being shipped into Whangarei and will then be transported by road to the site in Omamari to be erected. Due to the sheer size of the equipment, careful planning and multiple oversized transport trips are required to get them to site, and the power lines which cross over roads on route will be permanently altered so the turbines can pass through safely.
Usually with high load transports, Northpower would lift the lines temporarily, but this project involves an unprecedented amount of road crossings. This means it is more effective to raise the lines permanently as part of the Mercury funded project and upgrade the network at the same time.
Planned power outages for work
Altering the road power line road crossings and upgrading our network means there will be multiple power outages for some customers along the route.
Any impacted customers will be contacted directly by Northpower. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
An exciting project
The construction of a windfarm in Northland is very exciting, and another step forward in our region’s energy resilience and a great addition to the region’s renewable energy infrastructure.
For more information on the project, visit the Mercury website.