Meridian wins Te Uku environmental award

Meridian wins Te Uku environmental award

Meridian Energy’s commitment to high environmental standards at its Te Uku wind farm have won Environment Waikato’s inaugural earthworks ‘Site of the Year’ award.

Meridian won the award – designed to highlight and promote high quality environmentally sensitive earthworks projects – for the high standard of erosion and sediment controls at its 28 turbine Te Uku wind farm near Raglan.

Meridian Chief Executive Tim Lusk says the award recognises the work carried out by the construction team in steep terrain and challenging weather conditions and the overarching commitment of Meridian to operate sustainably across all its developments.

“This award is greatly valued as it recognises our genuine commitment to building renewable energy assets with the greatest respect for the environment.

“We went into this project knowing we had an important job on our hands to make sure we protected the environment on a remote and often foggy, windy, and wet area of farm land.

“This award is recognition of the excellent work of the team – that’s Meridian staff and our contractors and partners,” says Mr Lusk.

Meridian’s Te Uku Project Manager Robert Batters says Meridian's environmentally sustainable policies meant they had to take into account erosion and sediment control, fuel usage and resources at every stage of the project.

“We had to ensure that no construction-affected storm water ran into the nearby streams, and silt fences and earth-bunds (soil walls) were built to direct storm water to sediment control ponds.

“The storm water sits in the ponds until the sediment in the water drops out over time and settles in the bottom of the pond, while the clean water decants off into downstream waterways.”

Robert says the water ways were tested pre-construction and continuously monitored during construction to ensure there was no deterioration in water quality in streams within the construction site.

“It was vital sediment did not find its way into the nearby rivers and streams – particularly the Pokaka River which feeds into Bridal Veil Falls – a major tourist attraction in the area.

“All this hard work has been recognised by Environment Waikato with this ‘Site of the Year' award. We’re very proud to be recognised for this work.”

The Te Uku wind farm is being built by the Alliance of Meridian Energy and local electricity distribution company, WEL Networks.

The unique partnership between a gentailer and a lines company makes the Te Uku wind farm the first generation development of its type in New Zealand. Upon completion, the 28 turbines will generate 64.4MWs of electricity, enough to power around 30,000 average homes.

The wind turbines will begin arriving on-site next month. The first turbine is planned to be generating electricity before Christmas and all 28 turbines will be online by March 2011. The electricity they generate will go directly into WEL Networks’ local electricity network, which means the power will be used primarily by residents and businesses within the region.

ENDS

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