N.Z. firm to build huge wind farm

PORT WAIKATO, New Zealand, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Contact Energy proposes erecting 218 power-generating windmills in New Zealand, which would rank as one of the world's largest wind farms.

The New Zealand power company said the wind farm, which would cost an estimated $2 billion to build, would produce up to 650 megawatts of electricity, which would be enough to light about 250,000 homes, The New Zealand Herald reported Wednesday. The largest wind farm currently in operation is a 735-megawatt operation in Texas, though a 1,000-megawatt facility recently was announced for Australia.

Contact Energy said it has negotiated with land owners in the remote region for access rights and will begin putting up the 450-foot-tall turbines south of Port Waikato by 2010 with completion expected by 2014, the newspaper said.