Huge, 100 tonne turbine tower parts begin arriving at the only wind farm under construction in NSW

The first batch of turbine parts for the only wind project currently under construction in New South Wales has been delivered to the site of the Uungula wind project, located on Wiradjuri Country 14km east of Wellington in the state’s central West.

Developer Squadron Energy, the renewables outfit owned by Andrew Forrest, said on Thursday that the delivery of almost 900 oversize overmass (OSOM) components started making their way to the site from the Port of Newcastle this week, at a scheduled rate of 26 deliveries a week.

Squadron general manager Mark Hunt says the start of deliveries marks a key construction milestone for the project, and a change in activity on site as teams gear up to start installing the 69 turbines which will make up the 414 megawatt (MW) wind farm.

The deliveries have started with the turbine tower segments and nacelles, some of them weighing up to almost 100 tonnes.

“We’ve been busy completing the turbine foundations on site, with more than 55 now finished, but this is where the work soon starts to become more visual with cranes standing up tower sections ahead of installation,” Hunt said.

Hunt says each turbine is made up of 13 components that will each make the 400 km journey to Wellington from Newcastle via the Golden Highway. Once they reach the site, 750 tonne cranes will be used to lift the turbine pieces into place.

“As we move into the installation phase, a lot the civil work like access roads has finished, so we’ll see a changeover in workforce rather than an increase.

“Our main focus right now is the delivery of turbine tower segments, which range in length from 10 to 36 metres, and nacelles, which sit on top of the tower encasing the gearbox, generator, and brake system.

“We’ll start to move blades, which are the most challenging components due to their length, in the coming months,” Hunt says.

“We thank the community and motorists for their patience while these deliveries take place, we’ve worked hard to ensure the timing of deliveries minimises impacts to the local community.”

Squadron says it has worked closely with principal contractor GE Vernova, transport operator ARES, local councils and relevant agencies to plan deliveries safely and minimise impacts on local communities and road users along the transport route.

Current deliveries from the Port of Newcastle are travelling via the Golden Highway, Saxa Road, continuing via the Mitchell Highway/Goolma Road intersection and Twelve Mile Road to the project site. They are being transported under approved traffic management arrangements.

“Since August last year, we’ve worked closely with Squadron Energy across vessel discharge, laydown, storage and load-out to prepare these oversized components for transport to site at Uungula,” says Port of Newcastle CEO Craig Carmody.

“This milestone demonstrates Port of Newcastle’s capability as Australia’s premiere port for the management of all complex, heavy-lift project cargo and coordination of its safe and efficient movement through the supply chain.”

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