Wind power plant in Wellington, New Zealand. Approximate location -41.2097, 174.7294.
WindWellingtonNew ZealandOnshore
Mill Creek is a 60 MW wind power plant in Wellington, New Zealand. It is operated by Meridian Energy. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 51k homes (estimated). It ranks #36 of 50 New Zealand power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2014, it is around 12 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, wind supplies about 9.7% of New Zealand's electricity; the national grid averages 93 gCO₂/kWh (88.5% low-carbon) (2025).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1022455.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000906084); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 60 MW, Mill Creek is around the median wind plant in New Zealand (60 MW). Technically it is described as Onshore. Wind turbines convert moving air into electricity; output is variable and site-dependent, and modern turbines deliver some of the lowest-cost new generation on many grids.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Meridian Energy. All plants by this company →
This wind plant converts the kinetic energy of wind into electricity through turbine rotors. It sits in a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) — Southern Hemisphere, latitude 41.2°S — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 15% below the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 44/100 — this site sits in the mid third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in an aggressive, high-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C5 — Very high), with marine salt corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #4 largest wind power plant of 7 in New Zealand by capacity.
New Zealand has 7 wind power plants in this dataset, together about 458 MW of capacity.
Coordinates -41.2097, 174.7294 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Mill Creek is a 60 MW source-record wind power plant in Wellington, New Zealand, commissioned in 2014.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 51,058 homes (estimated).
Mill Creek is operated by Meridian Energy.
