Ageing wind farm to be taken down using cranes, not explosives, in first of its kind project for Australia

Pacific Blue will be taking down the wind towers at one of Australia’s oldest wind farms – the 18.2 megawatt (MW) Codrington wind facility in Victoria – by crane, as opposed to other more robust options presented to them by a consultant. 

“This project is the first of its kind in Australia and we take this responsibility very seriously,” a Pacific Blue spokesperson said in a statement.   

“A decision was recently made that all turbines at the Codrington Wind Farm will be disassembled onsite through the use of cranes in the reverse order of how the turbines were assembled.

“Other options have been presented to us, but were not chosen based on a range of key criteria.”   

The company is cautiously feeling its way through the decommission planning for the wind farm, and is yet to confirm the more complex details of how it plans to recycle or dispose of the turbines and other site materials.

According to Everose, the consultancy Pacific Blue hired to canvass what is possible, Australia already has an industry in place that can recycle about 95 per cent of a turbine and the associated balance of plant, such as concrete bases and substations.

The composite blades pose a more difficult problem, but solutions such as mixing the shredded pieces into cement is an option being tested overseas.

Codrington is one of the oldest commercial wind farms in the country, starting operations in 2001, and is set to close in 2027. 

It is the first of 85 wind farms that will reach the end of their operational lives in the next 20 years, and that’s a responsibility the company says it is taking seriously as it works through a process with no best practice guides to follow.

 “Pacific Blue is committed to delivering a thorough and respectful decommissioning of the Codrington Wind Farm,” the statement says. 

“Pacific Blue will be at the forefront of responsible decommissioning in Australia. We are determined to find pioneering solutions that can set an example for the industry as well as satisfying local expectations.”  

Three options

Using a crane to take down a wind turbine requires expensive equipment, but is likely to be more socially acceptable than the other options which are to cut a wedge from the tower base or plant explosives to topple the machine over. 

But Everose, the consultancy Pacific Blue hired to canvas what is possible, warned the latter options are likely to create environmental and community expectation issues, as well as extra planning headaches. 

There are instances where “explosive collapse” is the best way to bring down a turbine, however, as AGL found in 2021. 

According to reports in local publication southburnett.com.au and the Courier Mail, a faulty turbine at the Cooper’s Gap wind farm was demolished in a controlled explosion after faults were found in the nacelle. 

The news caused no small amount of hyperventilation in the local NewsCorp newspaper the Courier Mail, which quizzed then-Queensland energy minister Mick de Brenni as to whether he knew – and whether taxpayers would be on the hook for repairs at the privately-owned wind farm. 

De Brenni confirmed at the time that he did know, and no, Queenslanders would not have to pay for the repairs.