Concrete poured at Flat Rocks wind farm as turbine parts hit the road

Italian energy giant Enel Green Power says the foundations have been laid for all 18 of the turbines at its first Australian wind farm, the 76MW Flat Rock project in Western Australia, and the delivery of Vestas turbine parts is underway.

In an update on Stage 1 of the Flat Rocks project, Enel said the transportation of turbine components to the site near Kojonup would begin at the end of the month, at the rate of around four oversized tower parts a day.

“Achievement of this significant project milestone reflects a team effort by our project partners, construction partners and subcontractors,” a LinkedIn post says.

Enel began pouring the concrete foundations for the project in February, a milestone that was celebrated with a visit to the site from the company’s Rome-based CEO Salvatore Bernabei.

Enel says the wind turbines for the project are being erected starting this month, with a first stage installing the lower parts of the turbine tower and a second stage installing the nacelles, hubs and blades.

The output of stage one of Flat Rocks will help BHP achieve the equivalent of a 100 per cent renewables power supply for its WA nickel operations, which will help supply EV makers like Tesla green up their supply chains.

Enel Green Power is also the owner of the Bungala solar farm in South Australia, the biggest in that state, and the smaller 27MW Cohuna solar farm in Victoria.

A second stage of the Flat Rocks, sized at up to 150MW, has been bought by the WA Water Corporation and will be used to provide green power for the state owned water utility.