Wind power in New Zealand

As of November 2023, wind power accounts for 1,059 MW of installed capacity and over 6 percent of electricity generated in the country.

The country is in the path of the Roaring Forties, strong and constant westerly winds, and the funneling effect of Cook Strait and the Manawatū Gorge increase the resource's potential.

Over three-quarters (512 MW) of the country's wind generation is installed within a 150 km (93 mi) radius of Palmerston North, with some turbines in the area having a capacity factor of over 50 percent.

[6] One study found that using 1% of total available land for wind farms would produce approximately 100,000 gigawatt hours (GWh) per year.

Individual demonstration and prototype wind turbines have been installed at Southbridge in Canterbury,[9] Gebbies Pass near Christchurch and Brooklyn in Wellington.

The Windflow 500 is New Zealand's only locally designed and manufactured wind turbine .
This demonstration wind turbine in Brooklyn , Wellington , was New Zealand's first turbine. It has since been upgraded. It was in operation for 22 years from 1993 to 2015.