Hokonui Wind Farm

Project summary

The project is to:

• construct, operate, maintain and carry out end-of-life decommissioning of a wind farm with a peak generation capacity of up to 500 megawatts and an annual expected output of 1,905 Gigawatt-hours

• establish a mixed-use industrial area of approximately 30 hectares to enable co-location of complementary industrial or energy-related activities.

The project includes associated infrastructure and ancillary activities to connect and supply electricity to the National and local grids, which will comprise:

• up to 83 wind turbines comprising 3-blades, at a tower height of up to 150 metres (maximum blade height up to 240 metres above ground level)

• electrical reticulation consisting of underground and overhead cables and wind turbine transformers

• a new switching station and two new substations and associated transmission lines and connections to the National Grid

• construction of internal roading and access tracks, turbine foundations and hard-stand areas adjacent to the wind turbines

• ancillary activities associated with the construction, including earthworks and quarrying, concrete batching plants (4000m2 in area), operation and maintenance of the wind farm

• mixed-use activities that may include data storage and processing facilities (including data centres), battery energy storage systems and associated grid support infrastructure, electricity-intensive processing or manufacturing activities, renewable energy conversion activities, and directly associated ancillary activities supporting industrial and logistics facilities

Project location

The project area is approximately 1100 hectares, located across 12 properties in the Hokonui Hills, near Mandeville, mostly in the Southland District, and partly in the Gore District, Southland region.

Project referral

The Minister for Infrastructure referred the project to the Fast-track on 18 August 2026. The application was lodged on 5 June 2026.

Hokonui Wind Farm - Notice of decision letter (PDF, 138 KB)