The Uungula wind farm – the first wind project to join the grid in New South Wales in two-and-a-half years, and just the second in more than three years – has notched up another major milestone, with construction and energisation of its substation now complete.
The 414 megawatt (MW) wind farm, which has been transporting hundreds of huge turbine parts from Newcastle to its construction site near Wellington in the state’s central west, was registered to the grid two weeks ago.
In an update on Friday, Squadron Energy said the 330/33kV substation, incorporating three transformers, is now energised and ready to connect Uungula to the electricity network via 28 new towers and nearly 12 km of 330kV transmission line.
Squadron project director Sanjay Goel describes the substation as “the beating heart of the wind farm – responsible for pumping 414MW of renewable power into the NSW electricity grid.”
“Energisation means the substation has been successfully switched on for the first time and clears the way for around 96 km of underground and overhead cabling to be progressively connected the project’s 69 turbines and grid,” Goel said.
“This significant milestone – achieved in partnership with our energy infrastructure supplier, Lumea – allows us to begin turbine testing and commissioning as we move closer to generating renewable energy for more than 220,000 homes.”
Lumea executive general manager Craig Stallan says the company’s has been focused on delivering the connection infrastructure safely, reliably and on schedule so that Squadron can forge ahead with getting Uungula up and running.
“The substation is a critical piece of infrastructure and its successful energisation is the result of a major engineering effort by many teams,” Stallan said in a separate statement.
“We value the opportunity to help our customers to have confidence delivering complex energy infrastructure safely and reliably.”
Squadron says construction of the wind farm is two-thirds complete, including the substation, five turbines and 80% of ground works.
To join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.
