Senvion credits VRET in deal to deliver 429MW Murra Warra wind farm

Global wind energy giant Senvion has welcomed a “new confidence” in Victoria’s wind energy market, after announcing a deal to deliver 116 wind turbines for RES Australia’s Murra Warra wind farm in the state’s western district.

wind farms australia

RES – most recently in the news for its ground-breaking solar power off take deal with Telstrahas been working on the 429MW Murra Warra project for some seven years now, after identifying the site, just north of Horsham, as a prime wind farm location in 2010.

The company said on Tuesday that the Delivery Partnership Agreement with Senvion had put RES and its project partners on track to deliver the wind farm on schedule, and served as a precursor to financial close of the project.

Raymond Gilfedder, who heads up Senvion Australia, said the company was excited to be working with RES on the Victorian project, and gave the state Andrews government a nod for its progressive clean energy policies.

“The introduction of ambitious renewable energy targets in Victoria has injected new confidence in the local wind energy market,” Gilfedder said.

“The Murra Warra wind farm …will result in significant employment and economic benefits for the local communities around the project.”

The companies said in the statement on Tuesday that the wind farm would feature the 3.7M144 turbine type, which was being designed for the project.

Roger Seshan, the strategic procurement director of RES, said its global experience and relationships had allowed the company “to combine the best elements from our respective markets to deliver our projects.”

“We look forward to continuing to develop our relationship in the Australian market with the Murra Warra wind farm,” he said.

Comments

5 responses to “Senvion credits VRET in deal to deliver 429MW Murra Warra wind farm”

  1. Malcolm M Avatar
    Malcolm M

    How much curtailment will there be ? The grid from Horsham can only take ~350 MW north to Redcliffe, and ~500 MW east to Ballarat. The line to Ballarat is already nearly at its limit at times of high wind output because of input from the Ararat wind farm (242 MW) and the Waubra wind farm (192 MW).

    1. George Darroch Avatar
      George Darroch

      Capacity in the network seems to be a major issue. We’ve got a huge amount coming on in this part of the state over the next few years.

      1. Malcolm M Avatar
        Malcolm M

        Perhaps they’ve already costed in some curtailment, and it’s still worthwhile going ahead. The curtailed hours would tend to occur at times of low prices because of other wind generation elsewhere in the State. The AEMO report indicated that the two 220 kV lines from north-western Victoria could only take another 750 MW of wind and solar, and this would have a 5% curtailment rate. This is a curtailment of hours, and would correspond to a much lower curtailment of energy, which would be shared across all wind farms feeding into the line. So combining these factors could lead to only a small percentage reduction in income.

    2. GlennM Avatar
      GlennM

      Well, it is chicken and egg stuff. In China they built the RE then built the HVDC cables, same in Texas with wind. They are professionals one hopes so the have surely thought about their options…

      1. Alastair Leith Avatar
        Alastair Leith

        Lily D’Ambrosio MP has spoken to this point and they think they can get it all on without transmission upgrades at this time. Remember that a wind farm only generates at full capacity for a very small percentage of the time (~5%). The more turbines and the more farms the more generation tends away from peaks and troughs and towards flat output (it never gets to flat of course thanks to weather/seasons).

        Curtailing at maximum generation under a constrained grid access regime may result in a small forfeit in income, and wind farms may need to get a slightly better price for the times they are dispatching to compensate for the curtailment.

Get up to 3 quotes from pre-vetted solar (and battery) installers.