ENERGY

Southland Wind Farm: east of Gore

Contact Energy (NZX-listed, private) · Southland

A 380MW wind farm across 58km2 of private land in eastern Southland, about 30km southeast of Gore: 55 turbines of up to about 7MW, plus a substation, access roads and grid connection. The largest wind farm consented in New Zealand to date. Fast-track approval was granted on 2 April 2026. No build cost has been published.

Mixed signals Data: Medium

Delivery Confidence Score, 0 to 100, higher is better: a ranking of how strong this project's delivery signals are, not a probability. It blends eight factors, including the election risk and policy alignment shown below.

Breakdown▾

Data current as at 8 Sept 2026, when the pipeline was last checked against its source.

Key facts

Region: Southland
Sector: Energy
Status: Planning
Estimated value: Value TBC
Indicative completion: TBC
Funding status: No Source
Lead organisation: Contact Energy (NZX-listed, private)
Election risk: Safe

Election risk assessment

Commercial generation on private land, consented under the Fast-track Approvals Act and privately financed. No Crown funding to withdraw, and no final investment decision has been published.

Government priority alignment

HIGH: Large-scale renewable generation, explicitly backed by ministers as part of the electricity supply strategy.

Chronology

2025Contact Energy lodges a substantive fast-track application (August)
2026Fast-track approval granted on 2 April, about five months after the expert panel was appointed. Ministers put the construction-phase benefit at $13.5m to the local economy and up to 300 jobs, with 10 to 14 permanent roles once operating. Generation is quoted as enough for up to 150,000 households

Source

Beehive via Scoop: Fast-track approved project could deliver New Zealand's largest wind farm (2 Apr 2026) ↗ · Fast-track Approvals: NZ's largest wind farm project fast-tracked ↗

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