FEATURE

9 October 2025

Stu Davie: Smart decisions help power up South Island’s largest wind farm

 

Stu Davie is the site manager at the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm Stage 2 project in Southland.

 

Most people would love to have an office backdrop like the one Stu Davie enjoys every day in Southland.

There are rolling green pastures, mature trees and dotted on the hills behind stand 10 wind turbines constructed as part of stage 1 of Mercury’s Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm near Gore.

Stu worked as the site manager for stage 1, a year-long project completed in November 2023.

He’s moved on to working on stage 2 now, a much bigger project involving the installation of 36 turbines. Work started in July 2024 with the goal of it being completed by March 2027.

He works closely with Stewart Reid, who is the Principal Project Manager for the wind farm development.

Stewart Reid, who has extensive experience constructing other wind farms across New Zealand, said having a local person work as site manager on the Kaiwera Downs project has been a real advantage.

 

Stu is responsible for bringing together about 100 people who work on the wind farm site every day.

“Stu Davie is very well connected to the Southland region.

“He’s got a really good rapport with the Gore community and with our partners we’re working with on the project.”

Stu Davie and Stewart Reid, and their team at Kaiwera Downs, are among the many hardworking New Zealanders who show up to work every day to help Mercury power the country.

The important decisions they make each day are critical to the success of the wind farm and in the long term will help create a more sustainable electricity system.

The entire Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm (stages 1 and 2) will have an installed capacity of 198MW, producing an annual average of 675GWh, enough to power the equivalent of about 93,000 homes.

The project will help increase the level of renewable energy Mercury can supply to the country.

 

Stewart Reid is the principal project manager for the Kaiwera Downs Wind Farm development.

“What I love the most about working on this project is the people,” Stu says.

“I like to develop a good culture on site, so that people know if there is a problem, they can come to me to sort it out.

“It's a matter of working with people, understanding their strengths and their weaknesses to help them get the job done.”

Stu and the project team at Kaiwera Downs are at the heart of Mercury’s success. They are an example of how New Zealand’s world-leading electricity system has been created by hardworking, committed and talented Kiwis.

On a typical day, there could be up to 100 people working on site, for different contractors assigned to different tasks.

But Mercury’s approach is to bring all of the contractors together as much as possible so there’s a “one team” culture prevailing.

Stewart has extensive experience consulting on wind farms across New Zealand.

Stu is the “interface” between everyone contributing to the project to help build that team culture and environment.

A big part of that is aligning the team on work schedules and ensuring health and safety is paramount.

“A typical situation might be when we go to install cables into the turbine foundations.

“There will be one set of contractors building the foundation, another which has done the excavation work and another laying the cables.

“The demarcation between each group has to be worked out and it’s a matter of good planning and communication.”

Turbine foundations were constructed at the wind farm during the winter of 2025.

Another important part of Stu’s job is building long-term relationships with landowners. 

“We’re working in the middle of a bull farm. The farmer is working around us, and we are doing our best to make it possible for them to operate as normal. 

“At the same time, we are building new roads for trucks, shifting things around to prepare the site for the turbines, so it’s just a matter of constantly liaising with the farmers. 

“We also have landowners on the fringes of the wind farm, and we keep them informed of the progress we’re making.” 

Stu is a long-time resident of Gore. He is committed to ensuring the wind farm project provides a positive impact for his community and the country. 

“The wind farm has become a positive talking point with locals. 

The Mercury team at the ground-breaking event to mark the start of construction of stage 2 of the wind farm, in July 2024.

“People still ask to visit KD1 (stage 1 of the wind farm), I’ve even guided a school group around the wind farm to educate kids and the teachers about how we make renewable energy for the country.”

Stu started work with Mercury in 2022 and had already been involved in big civil projects. But building a wind farm was a “terrific learning curve”.

“I can understand earth moving and building roads but when it comes to the actual mechanics of installing a turbine, the engineering and electrics that go with that, it is just fascinating.”

The experience of building stage 1 has set the team up well for construction of stage 2.

“It’s a big project but I think that’s what appealed to me when I decided to accept this role.

“The other thing that appealed was the way Mercury was focused on outcomes, rather than just working the hours."