Southland's largest wind farm is now fully open, and it comes with a $496 million price tag and a 20-year deal underpinning the future of Tiwai Point.
Invercargill MP Penny Simmonds officially opened the completed Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm on behalf of Energy Minister Simeon Brown, marking the end of a major expansion that added stage two to the existing South Island operation.
The numbers are significant. Stage two alone pumped roughly $100 million into the Southland economy during construction. The full facility can now generate enough electricity to power 96,000 homes, making it the largest wind farm on the South Island.
The expansion was made possible by a 20-year power purchase agreement between Mercury — the farm's owner — and New Zealand Aluminium Smelters. That deal locks in a long-term supply of renewable energy to the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter, which is set to reopen its fourth potline by 2030. The smelter's future has been uncertain for years, so a two-decade energy agreement is about as firm a commitment as the region could hope for.
Simmonds said the project had been a win for Mercury, for Southland and for the country. She acknowledged local landowners, contractors and suppliers who contributed to the build alongside Mercury.
For Southland, the significance runs deeper than construction spend. Tiwai Point is the region's largest single employer. Its continued operation — and planned expansion — depends on affordable, reliable electricity. Kaiwera Downs now provides exactly that, on a contract long enough to give the smelter genuine planning certainty.
New Zealand gets something out of it too. The country has been pushing hard to lift its share of renewable electricity generation, and a wind farm of this scale feeding directly into a major industrial operation ticks that box cleanly.