Mercury (NZX: MCY) takes another step toward decarbonisation; shares down

Highlights

• Mercury to build another wind farm at Kaiwera Downs
• This will be another step in the company’s decarbonisation efforts
• Mercury already has three wind farms in operation and two are being built

Mercury NZ (NZX: MCY) confirmed today that it was going to build a new wind farm at Kaiwera Downs, south of Gore. By this, the electricity company has taken another step toward decarbonisation, it said. 

The new wind farm is targeted to have a capacity of 43MW, and is likely to cost the company NZ$115million. This would give a lift to MCY’s wind energy projects to almost NZ$600 million since 2019.  

Vince Hawkesworth, CEO of Mercury, said that the Company was committed to supporting New Zealand’s decarbonisation goals, and the best way to do it was by investing and supplying more renewable power for usage all across.

Other wind energy operational projects

The new project, as per the company comes as Mercury is almost close to the completion of the NZ$480 million Turitea Wind Farm in Manawatu. This brings it close to NZ$600 million commitment to wind energy.

Details of the project

The company disclosed the details of the project as:

• The new project, called the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm, is fully consented to, and the construction is likely to begin by October. The construction is estimated to be completed in a year
• Kaiwera Downs Stage I will have the capacity to generate 43MW of energy, enough to power 20,000 homes or 66,000 electric vehicles.
• Mercury’s total energy generated through wind power stood at 1,269GWh, and it will increase as Turitea South becomes fully operational with Kaiwera becoming operational by the end of 2023.
• The Turitea Wind Farm is going to be completed by mid-2023 and is likely to be NZ’s largest wind farm with the capacity to power 120,000 households or 375,000 EVs.

Further, the Company disclosed that around 10 turbines will be constructed in stage 1 of the new wind energy project.

The second stage will be to build a 240 MW plant, which has already been consented to.

Decarbonisation efforts in NZ

Mercury in its release to the media also stated that the electricity sector in New Zealand is committed to investing in renewable energy, helping NZ’s transition to a low-carbon future, with the country already on track to achieve the 90% renewable energy target in the next 3-5 years.

The government’s Emission Reduction Plan has also set a clear direction for the electricity sector to achieve the goal of decarbonising the economy.

It said, the country was moving towards the electrification of the transport fleet to greater electrification of industrial processes, and affordable electricity for homes is what energy companies are aiming at, and Mercury is at the forefront of this effort.

Announcing its feat, the Company said that in less than 12 months, Mercury has taken significant strides in wind energy generation. From having no operating wind generation, it has become NZ’s largest wind generator.