Tararua Wind Farm – world record wind turbine output

Two of the thirty one Vestas V90 wind turbines operating at Trustpower’s Tararua wind farm have set a world record for their total output, producing 100,000,000 KWh of electricity. These turbines are less than halfway through their design life.

This is a world first for any Vestas turbine. The V90-3MW machines used at Tararua are used in many locations around the world, as well as by Trustpower at its Mahinerangi wind farm in Otago, and to achieve this result is a testament to both the quality of the turbines and the team of Vestas technicians that are contracted to operate and maintain the wind farm for Trustpower.

The Tararua wind farm site is classified as 1A, which means that it is rated as one of the best wind farm sites in the world, but at the same time subject to extremes of weather, with high average wind speeds and high turbulence levels. For turbines this technically challenging, similar to driving a car over judder bars at full speed – all the time.

Vestas New Zealand Area Service Manager Colin Farrington said his team is pleased to celebrate with Trustpower a significant milestone cementing the Tararua wind farm’s recognition internationally as one of the, most productive wind farms in the world.

“This milestone is tangible evidence of a high capacity site and the fantastic effort put in by the service team to keep the turbines running to their full potential. A 1A site has a lot of challenges, but with excellent planning and execution and sheer hard work the management and technician’s on site have kept the turbines are running to optimal performance. I also want to acknowledge the tremendous support that we get from our customer Trustpower, because this fantastic result has only been made possible courtesy of a great partnership with the asset owner. Trustpower’s ongoing confidence and trust in Vestas as their New Zealand preferred service provider inspires us greatly, even when faced with the challenges thrown up in this tough environment.”

Trustpower General Manager Generation, Deion Campbell, says that when Trustpower took the decision to be the first (and still only) New Zealand wind farm operator to adopt the Vestas V90-3MW technology, very early in the technology life cycle, the technology risk was worth the reward of getting the right machine for our top class wind farm site, from the right partner. Trustpower has been delighted at the performance of the machines and the support received from Vestas.

“Our experience with the 101 smaller V47–660kW Vestas machines already on the site gave us the confidence to select the V90 for what we already knew was a challenging operational environment, and neither the machines or the maintenance team from Vestas have let us down. It is extremely pleasing to know that as New Zealand’s largest wind farm, our Tararua installation is also confirmed yet again one of the most productive in the world.”