New Zealand Invests Billions in Wind Farm

New Zealand energy company Contact Energy is to build one of the world's largest wind farms in a project worth NZD$2bn.

Located south of Port Waikato, the 218-turbine project can generate up to 650MW of electricity - enough to power a quarter of a million homes.

The company will also build a 100MW gas-fired station in Taranaki to support increasing levels of wind generation during periods of low wind or hydro generation, says the Press Association.

About 450 jobs are expected to be created during construction and more than NZD$100m will be injected into the Waikato economy.

Last week, Australia announced plans for a 1,000MW wind farm, which would be one of the world's biggest.

By staff writer