First turbine goes up at state’s only wind farm under construction

The first of 69 wind turbines has been erected at Squadron Energy’s Uungula wind farm, marking a fresh milestone for the 414 megawatt (MW) project, which is the only large-scale wind farm currently being built in New South Wales.

Squadron, the renewable energy developer owned by Andrew Forrest, says the turbine installation was fully completed at 2pm on Sunday August 30, following the installation of its three blades, the first of which arrived on site earlier in the month.

Construction of the wind farm is now two-thirds complete, with works now expected to ramp up during the tower installation phase. The 204 blades required for the remaining 68 turbines continue to be delivered to the project site at a rate of one per day – but not on Sundays, Squadron says.

“This is a proud moment for everyone involved in bringing Uungula Wind Farm to life and marks the beginning of one of the most visible phases of construction,” project director Sanjay Goel said in a statement issued on Thursday.

“After years of planning and activity on site, it’s exciting to see the first turbine standing and we look forward to seeing more turbines take shape across the project over the coming months.”

First sod at the Uungula wind farm was turned in 2024, and the first mammoth components began arriving at the project at the end of April this year, starting with the delivery of turbine tower segments and nacelles, some of them weighing up to almost 100 tonnes.

The turbine parts, including 80-metre-long turbine blades, are being transported from the Port of Newcastle along a 400-kilometre route that travels along the New England and Golden Highways.

By early July, Squadron confirmed that it was officially a third of the way through building the wind farm, with most of the concrete foundations poured.

Squadron says construction of Uungula is now more than two-thirds complete and is expected to ramp up now that the project has entered the tower installation phase.

The 204 blades required for the remaining 68 turbines continue to be delivered to the wind farm at a rate of one per day, excluding Sundays.

Squadron says the project has engaged 91 local businesses during construction, so far, with 57 businesses from Wellington and 34 from Dubbo and Orange.

More than $40 million has been invested in road upgrades, including the Goolma Road and Twelve Mile Road intersection and the Goolma Road and Mitchell Highway intersection.

The latest delivery schedule is available on the project website.

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