Vestas suspends work on a gigawatt of projects as Golden Plains fatal accident investigated

Construction work on Australia’s biggest wind project and another major wind farm in Queensland has been paused by global wind turbine manufacturer Vestas as authorities continue their investigations into the fatal accident in Victoria earlier this month.

A Vestas spokesperson confirmed to Renew Economy this week that construction work at the first 756 stage of the Golden Plains wind project and the first 252 MW stage of the Wambo project in Queensland have both been paused, pending the investigation.

Both wind projects are under construction and using the Vestas V162 turbine involved in the Golden Plains incident, where 36 year-old sub contractor Jess Patience was killed by a 22 tonne turbine blade that had been laid on a stand.

There had been speculation in the industry that other projects internationally involving the V162 turbine had also been suspended, but the Vestas spokesperson said they were unaware of that.

Worksafe is investigating the incident at Golden Plains, which is 85 per cent owned by TagEnergy and 15 per cent by Ingka Investments, and will total 1,330 MW over two stages, making it the biggest wind project in Australia currently in operation or under construction.

Wambo is being developed jointly by the Queensland state owned Stanwell and Cubico Investments and will be sized at more than 500 MW over two stages.

The ABC’s 7.30 program on Wednesday reported that WorkSafe Victoria has issued 22 compliance notices to the project since March last year, and concerns had been raised just weeks before the fatal accident.

The AWU says it and other unions had met with Vestas management to “raise serious safety concerns” in the weeks leading up to the incident. “(We told) them it was only dumb luck that nobody had been killed on site yet,” AWU Victoria state secretary Ronnie Hayden said in a statement at the time.

The Golden Plains project has also had other problems, including when small blade parts – plastic serrated edges designed to reduce turbine noise – fell from turbines and were scatted over the nearby area.

No injuries or damage to property were reported from that incident, but locals and workers were advised to wear protective head gear if they approached the affected turbines. Work and production was suspended while the turbine blades were inspected.

In Canada, operations at a wind project in Alberta were halted after the nacelle of a 4.5MW Vestas machine crashed to the ground, according to reports. The nacelle and rotor fell to the ground on 8 November while the V150-4.5MW wind turbine was being installed at the Halkirk 2 wind farm.