2021 has been an incredibly busy year for the Mt Cass Wind Farm project team.

Following the decision in the autumn to transition the project from a single turnkey Engineer, Procure and Construct contract to a multi-contract delivery model, the Mt Cass Wind Farm team has been finalising contracts with the preferred civil and electrical contractors.

Pre-construction activities will commence in the first quarter of 2022 with the installation of met masts at each end of the wind farm. These masts will enable efficiency and performance to be tracked over the life of the wind farm.

In addition, Transpower, has approved all of the connection requirements enabling MainPower to proceed with the procurement of the grid connection and 66kV transmission line items that have a long lead time.

The Mt Cass Road upgrade detailed design is significantly advanced and the tender for the Mt Cass Road upgrade will be going out to market in the first quarter of 2022. The road upgrade involves rounding out some tight corners, widening the road in places and additional sealing where necessary. These road enhancements will ensure the safe transporting of the turbines to the wind farm site as well as making the road safer for all commuters, including visitors to the Tiromoana Scenic Reserve.

Christmas cheer for the relocated lizards

We are thrilled that our ongoing pest management continues to be successful. We have exceeded our performance targets for all monitored pests in the four lizard release areas.

The Waitaha geckos and Southern Grass Skinks that we relocated from the construction area to the pest-controlled habitat will be appreciating our pest control work and there are early indications the population is thriving.