Waubra Wind Farm
The Project
The Waubra Wind Farm Project is located in Waubra, approximately 35kms North West of Ballarat. The Wind Farm is situated in two municipalities, the Shire of Pyrenees and the City of Ballarat. The project site (approximately 173km²) is a series of hills and high plateaus which form part of the Great Dividing Range. The site consists primarily of cleared agricultural land used for sheep and cattle grazing and potato growing.
Waubra Wind Farm locality map. A detailed site layout map can be viewed here
The Waubra Wind Farm will comprise of 128 wind turbines, with associated access tracks, substations and an operations centre. Each turbine will generate 1.5 megawatts (MW), providing a total installed capacity of 192MW. The green energy generated by the Wind Farm each year will provide for 143,000 households – more than enough to power the City of Ballarat. The Wind Farm is expected to offset up to 635,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. This helps to meet future energy needs without further contributing to the cause of climate change.
The construction of the Waubra Wind Farm Project has been made possible by the Victorian State Government’s commitment to a Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET). The VRET provides regulatory stability for investments in clean energies by requiring that electricity retailers purchase a minimum 10 per cent renewable energy by 2016. This scheme fosters the sale of energy produced from wind farms.
Detailed design of the wind farm
The detailed design includes the electrical design, the selection of turbines that best fit the terrain at Waubra, a lighting plan for aviation safety and the design of a sustainable maintenance building.
Acciona Energy has been consulting with the local community on the wind farm design. Detailed information on the design was presented to the Community Reference Group and at a Community Information Day. Acciona Energy will keep the community informed through the CRG and the Waubra Wind Farm Newsletter.
Electrical design
The design of the electrical system consists of mostly underground cabling, some overhead lines, five substations and a terminal substation. All electrical cables between turbines will now be underground reducing the amount of overhead lines required.
Turbine selection
The Waubra Wind Farm site is a combination of hills and flat plains, so wind turbines have been selected to match the wind conditions and the local terrain. The detailed design includes three turbine configurations; all based on the same Acciona Windpower 1.5 megawatt model, but with a combination of tower heights and blade lengths.
Night lighting for aviation safety
As just over half of the turbines in the wind farm will have a maximum blade tip height above 110m, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) has recommended installing aviation safety lighting. Lights will be installed on 48 of the 128 wind turbines to ensure the wind farm is visible to aircraft pilots in hours of darkness.
Sustainable maintenance facility
Acciona Energy has been working with sustainable design architects, to create a Maintenance Facility for Waubra that showcases environmentally sustainable design and visually complements the surrounding environment. The low energy building will be constructed from sustainable materials and will be powered with 100% wind energy.
The Maintenance Facility will be where the 25 permanent on-site staff will maintain the wind farm as it begins operating. The 880 m² facility will be used for local control of the wind farm and will provide an area for storage of equipment and spare parts.
The third edition of the Waubra Wind Farm Newsletter provides more detailed information on the wind farm design.
Timelines
The civil construction works are complete for all 128 wind turbines. The next steps in building the wind farm are electrical works, installing the wind turbines and commissioning the wind turbines.
First turbines up
Turbine installations started in December last year. Acciona Windpower, Acciona Energy’s sister company, is supplying the turbine parts, constructing the wind turbines and comissioning them.
The towers are being produced by Keppel Prince Engineering, a local Portland company, and by Haywards Engineering in Tasmania. The nacelles and hubs are being manufactured by Acciona Windpower in Pamplona, Spain, and the blades by Tecsis in Brazil.
All wind turbines will be tested before they start operating and producing electricity. Acciona Energy has planned to complete the installation of the 128 wind turbines by the end of 2008, depending on the right weather conditions.
Electrical works started
Electrical works commenced in January. Downer EDI Engineering is the lead contractor for the electrical works including laying underground cables, constructing 66KV overhead lines and building the five substations. The company has subcontracted Victorian company Powercor Electrical Services to construct the overhead lines. Electrical works will be completed by the end of this year, weather permitting.
Sustainable Maintenance Facility taking shape
Construction of the Maintenance Facility has been awarded to regional company AW Nicholson. The company has started clearing and levelling the site and building the foundations. Construction of the Maintenance Facility is expected to be finished by October 2008.
Regional Project Benefits
The Waubra Wind Farm is a significant investment in the region, which is having a positive effect on the regional economy. Then Premier, Steve Bracks, and Minister for Energy Industries and Resources, Theo Theophanous, pointed out that this project means more jobs and economic activity for the region (click here to see their media release dated 18 July 2006).
The Wind Farm will provide additional income for local landowners involved in the project and is expected to bring tourists to the area.
Acciona Energy is committed to using local construction and manufacturing skills and to sourcing local equipment and materials wherever possible. The construction of the Wind Farm has created around 200 jobs at its peak.
There will be approximately 25 permanent jobs created for the operation of the Wind Farm. To date more than 20 regional businesses have been involved as subcontractors, such as Eureka Concrete from Ballarat.
Acciona Energy has established a sponsorship program to support the local Waubra community during the construction phase, which has already provided financial and in-kind sponsorships. Acciona Energy is supporting the activities of the Waubra Football and Netball Club; the Waubra Kindergarten’s refurbishment of its playground; the Lions Club upgrade of the Family BBQ area at Toll Bar Park in Lexton; and has provided ‘sustainable raffle prizes’ for community groups fund raising activities.
A Sustainable Community Fund has also been established to share the benefits of the wind farm widely and to support local projects. The fund will provide approximately $64,000 per year (indexed to Consumer Price Index) and will contribute over $1.6 million to the local community over the life of the project. Acciona Energy is committed to helping the community achieve their goals through support from the Sustainable Community Fund. Dialogue will begin later this year on the administration of the fund together with the community.
The project has also been supporting the local CFA during incidents, with water trucks being made available to fight fires.
In this section:
Artist's impression of the Maintenance Facility
Parents and children of the Waubra Kindergarten and Acciona Energy staff in the playground
Wind Farm Construction Manager, Bruce Payne and Captain of Waubra Football Seniors Team, Shaun Mullane: both have worn no. 7 and both work at the wind farm site
