Granville Harbour wind farm nears first generation in Tasmania

A 112MW Tasmanian wind farm that promises to deliver a one-third increase to the state’s wind power capacity is set to start sending power to the grid in December, as the first of 31 turbines nears completion.

The $280 million Granville Harbour Wind Farm is being developed by Palisade Investment Partners on a cattle farm on Tasmania’s west coast, where it will tap that region’s famous roaring forties winds, which blow in from the Southern Ocean.

An update on the project early this month said construction activities were progressing well, with eight wind turbine foundation concrete pours complete, and the first turbine on track to be built by the end of October.

Reports in the local press late last week reported a new milestone, with the first steel component lifted into the air – putting the first turbine on track for completion in late November, and first commercial generation in December.

“…That was a big deal for many of us because it is the first time in nearly 18 months that we’ve been digging holes out there that we’ve got above ground,” project director Lyndon Frearson told the Burnie Advocate.

The wind farm also opened up to the public last week, to give locals a chance to view one of its 62 metre long turbine blades before it is put to work at the top of the tower.

“People have been hearing about it for a long time and to see the blade coming through, it’s sort of the first big, tangible sense of yep, there’s a wind farm coming,” Frearson said.

As we have reported, the wind farm reached financial close in July last year, after a $59 million investment from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.

The project was initially being developed by Westcoast Wind, which was bought out by Palisade in February 2018, some months after the two companies negotiated a long-term PPA for the wind farm’s output with Hydro Tasmania.

Hydro Tasmania says Granville Harbour will contribute to its plans to double the Apple Isle’s renewable energy capacity and make it the Battery of the Nation.

The wind farm will be connected to the Tasmanian grid via a new 11km transmission line that will join up to a connection point at the existing Reece Dam.