Wind farm breathes life into local manufacturing as last of 69 massive steel cages are sent to site

Squadron Energy has marked another milestone for its 414 megawatt Uungula wind farm, with all 69 of the project’s turbine cages now built – and nearly all planted – and the final massive steel cages now being delivered to site in the New South Wales Central West region.

Squadron says all 69 of the wind turbine anchor cages have been manufactured locally, including by Smithfield-based Precision Oxycut, which makes the steel plates for the cages that form the base of each turbine.

Another manufacturer in nearby Regent’s Park, Allthread Industries, makes the bolts of the cages, and then the parts are assembled back at Precision Oxycut’s warehouse in Newcastle before they’re delivered to the Uungula site, around 14 km east of Wellington.

Each anchor cage is made from 100 per cent Australian steel supplied by Australian steel manufacturing giant BlueScope, with the steel produced at the company’s Port Kembla Steelworks.

“It’s a great story when we can talk about three Australian companies combining to make sure these turbines are built on strong foundations,” Squadron Energy regional economic development manager Bart Sykes told 7 News late last week.

“These anchor cages literally form the foundation of our wind turbines – and knowing they’re being made by the experts at Oxycut using Australian-made steel from BlueScope, it gives us the confidence in the strength and durability of our turbines,” Sykes said in a separate company statement.

Squadron Energy’s Uungula Wind Farm is currently the only wind farm being built in New South Wales – the first components began moving to the site in late April – but it is nevertheless delivering a major boost to the state’s manufacturing sector.

According to Precision Oxycut, the production of the wind farm’s anchor cages has allowed the company to create six new jobs.

“Thanks to the collaboration between Squadron Energy, BlueScope, and Precision Oxycut, we are able to create real jobs with real futures for Australian manufacturing,” said Precision Oxycut general manager, Simon Preston.

“We have been able to create apprenticeship roles that have not existed in our factory for decades, we have created an engineering team full of young graduates who are working on major infrastructure projects straight out or university. 

“In my mind there is nothing but good that has been created by these projects. We are helping to make Australian energy generation green and boosting the economy and the lives of those people that work within it.”

“It’s fantastic to see Australian manufacturers, like Precision Oxycut in Western Sydney, playing a critical role in Uungula Wind Farm,” says Sykes.

“This partnership is a prime example of the opportunities that renewable energy presents for Australian companies.” 

Precision Oxycut has also previously built anchor cages for the Bango Wind Farm, Crudine Ridge Wind Farm, Murra Warra Wind Farm, and Clarke Creek Wind Farm.

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