by Robin Martin of RNZ

The developers of a proposed offshore windfarm in the South Taranaki Bight say it will create hundreds of jobs and require the building of a new port at Pātea.

That is what businesses, local authorities, development agencies and iwi were told at workshops in Hāwera and New Plymouth last week.

Taranaki Offshore Partnership - a collaboration of the NZ Super Fund and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners - wants to build a one gigawatt windfarm off the coast of South Taranaki, requiring an initial capital outlay of $5 billion.

Workshop facilitator David Hunt, of Concept Consulting, said it had been studying what construction of the 60 to 70 turbine windfarm required. And once finished, it would be able to supply 10 per cent of New Zealand’s electricity needs or power for 650,000 homes.

“The particular case study we’re focused on here would see probably quite a major redevelopment at Pātea to become the main service hub and port,” he said.

“Now that’s quite a change because that port used to be quite a vibrant port, but not at the moment, that would now in all likelihood become a service hub for this industry and that in turn means jobs in that area.”

Hunt said the turbines, which would be 25km offshore and 260m high, would need regular servicing.

 “You want to have a location that is close because you want people not spending all of their time [travelling] to and from the turbines. If you look on the map, it’s a very long journey around the coast from New Plymouth and so Pātea would be a logical choice.”

Workshop facilitator David Hunt, of Concept Consulting, said Pātea could become the main service hub for the proposed windfarm. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

There would still, however, be a role for Port Taranaki in New Plymouth, which was involved in a joint study with Taranaki Offshore Partnership and another windfarm developer BlueFloat Energy, about its potential to assist the industry.

“It’s a much bigger port, so you can get much bigger ships in and that is needed from time to time - certainly during the construction phase and then also when there is heavy maintenance required which is roughly every five years or so.”

Hunt said when operational, the windfarm would employ 100 full-time equivalent staff but many other jobs would be created.

“The sort of numbers that are being bandied around during the build phase were something like 1000, but those are numbers that are very ball park.

“A lot of those jobs are not dissimilar to oil and gas jobs. The offshore jobs putting in the actual construction phase, there’s big ships and a whole lot of specialised equipment comes in and there’s also a lot of onshore work.”

There would also be a number of jobs involved in the design and planning phase preceding construction.

Hunt said the workshops were about hearing from local businesses about what components or services they could supply to the industry.

“There’s a whole ecosystem in Taranaki a lot of skills and knowledge. People are used to working offshore, people are used to working at heights and then onshore there’s a whole service industry around that, so engineering, corrosion protection, heavy transport, cranes. There’s just a whole lot of stuff here that has quite a good match.”

Dynamech director Craig Douds was optimistic that the offshore wind industry offered opportunities for the mechanical engineering company.

“I believe it is realistic we have dipped our toe in the water with a bit of wind turbine work already and those skills are transferable.

“We’ve got the tools, talent and skills for thermal electricity generation and we’re getting poised for what’s coming next as thermal energy weans off and wind power is obviously a big player in renewable energy.”

Dynamech director Craig Douds (left) and Group Manager of Symonds Group Dean Eggers (right) say they are interested in the opportunities the development of the proposed windfarm could present for their industries. Photo / Robin Martin, RNZ

Group Manager of Symonds Group, Dean Eggers, said the company supplied trucking and other logistics solutions for the oil and gas industry and was interested in what opportunities wind might provide.

“If it does all eventuate there will be some onshore requirements for third-party logistics and transport servicing, so really it’s just a case of learning what scope there is and making sure we have some understanding.”

Eggers said the wind industry was unlikely to fill the gap the eventual wind-down of oil and gas would leave at his company.

“I see this as being a potential part of a replacement but I don’t see it being a total solution.”

Tumu Whakarito CEO Taranaki Iwi Wharehoka Wano says it is important for hapu iwi to be involved in discussions about offshore wind development. Photo / Te Korimako o Taranaki

“We are always going to have a very strong environmental lens on anything happening and particularly offshore and indeed onshore. When oil and gas came into this region hāpu iwi were not at the table, so that’s the number one priority - we want to be involved in these discussions at a high level from the start.”

-RNZ