The First Tangible Step Towards Seeing Offshore Wind Farms Off The Coast Of South Taranaki Has Arrived In Hawera

The first tangible step towards seeing offshore wind farms off the coast of South Taranaki has arrived in Hawera. The Taranaki Offshore Partnership information hub has opened. A collaboration between the NZ Super Fund and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners wants to build a one gigawatt wind farm off the coast of South Taranaki, requiring an initial capital outlay of $5 billion and creating hundreds of jobs and potentially a new port at Pātea. The new office in Hāwera will be a one-stop-shop for sharing information with the community and information sessions are being organised. The partnership launched a a floating buoy-like device that measures wind speed, about 37km offshore. It will read the wind speeds for one to two years. The partnership is also investigating areas off the Waikato coast for more wind farms. In November a consortium announced plans to build the first off shore wind farm by the end of the decade… It will be 22km off the coast of South Taranaki and cost $4 billion.