North By North West

A massive wind farm, comprising 168 turbines that could provide enough electricity for 17, homes has been approved for construction between Port Waikato and Raglan. The wind farm, to be named Hauauru ma raki (Maori for “north west wind”), and proposed by Contact Energy, New Zealand’s biggest listed energy company, is expected to generate 54 megawatts of electricity. Contact Energy says on its company website: “New Zealand’s demand for energy is growing strongly at about two percent 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.”