Wind farm on track for turbines by December

Plains Producer
Wednesday 20/6/2007 Page: 15

A month since first beginning road construction, a $200 million wind farm near Snowtown is on time and on budget, according to Wind Prospect development manager Andrew Dickson. Mr Dickson said road construction would be the main priority until December, when turbines would be transported to the site.

"The rest of this year is really building roads and then building the foundations for each turbine location, and also doing the trenching of the underground electrical cables," he said. "We need to be in a position by the end of the year so turbines and trucks can start arriving." Construction of an electrical sub-station will also begin in the next month.

The 42 turbines, will stretch 17km along the Barunga Range, and will be commissioned progressively from April to October next year. It will have a capacity of 88MW, enough to power 60,000 average South Australian homes, which will go into the national electricity market. While there are currently up to 20 workers on site, 170 are expected to be employed during peak construction times, and on completion, the wind farm will employ four full-time staff.

Earlier this year, TrustPower business development manager Rodney Ahern told Snowtown community members the development would return an additional $1 million within the community through increased employment, accommodation and fees paid to land owners. TrustPower, Wind Prospect and Suzlon Energy are all involved in the building of the wind farm.