New Zealand has opened an offshore wind feasibility permit application round, inviting developers to apply for authorisation to investigate potential projects off the Taranaki and Waikato / South Auckland coasts.
The application period opened on 19 October and will remain open until 19 April 2027, according to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
Under New Zealand’s offshore renewable energy permitting regime, a feasibility permit allows developers to carry out studies to assess the viability of an offshore wind project within a designated area. Developers must subsequently obtain other required consents to build and operate an offshore wind farm.
Several offshore wind projects have been proposed in the country over the past few years, including the two areas off New Zealand’s North Island now open for applications. In 2022, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and the NZ Super Fund began investigating a potential 1 GW project in the South Taranaki Bight. The project’s development work has included a floating LiDAR campaign to measure wind resources, completed in 2025.
In 2023, Belgian developer Parkwind and New Zealand power company Meridian Energy signed an agreement to explore joint offshore wind development, primarily off Taranaki.
BlueFloat Energy had also proposed offshore wind projects in New Zealand, but the company withdrew in 2024, citing uncertainty over the market and seabed allocation.
Back in 2022, Oceanex Energy, a company founded by two of the co-founders of the Star of the South, the developer of Australia’s first proposed offshore wind farm, announced plans for three offshore wind projects in New Zealand, with waters offshore Taranaki and Waikato as the favoured locations.