News

Denmark-based wind turbine maker and project developer Vestas is on a roll in Australia announcing 960 MW of turbine orders this week.

Earlier in the week Vestas announced it would supply 78 of its V162-6.2 MW turbines to the Parron Maam Marang Wind Farm, for a supplied capacity of 484 MW, despite no official notification of FID from project co-developers Atmos Renewables or Parron Developments.

Parron Maam Marang Wind Farm site is located at Badgingarra, approximately 200km north of Perth, on freehold agricultural land adjacent to the existing Badgingarra Wind Farm and the Western Power Northern Terminal-Three Springs Terminal transmission corridor.

Vestas will also supply 21 x V162-6.2 MW turbines to the Kondinin Wind Farm, for a total installed capacity of 130 MW.

This will be the first stage of the project, which has approvals for up to 46 wind turbines for 230 MW of wind power, to be located in the eastern Wheatbelt region of Western Australia about 280km east of Perth.

In announcing FID this week, it was also revealed that Shell had divested its 50% position in the development JV to partner Foresight Group (see news release in this edition).

Both projects have long-term PPAs in place with WA state-owned gentailer Synergy and were successful in the federal Capacity Investment Scheme tender round 5. They have also secured Vestas for 30-year management service agreements.

Vestas has a dominant position on turbine supply for WA wind projects, including Waddi, King Rocks, Warradarge and Warradarge 2 Wind Farms, although a new competitor has emerged recently.

China’s Envision Energy has won contracts to supply turbines to Fortescue Group’s under construction 133 MW Nullagine Wind Farm, as well as Neoen’s 179 MW Narrogin Wind Farm.

Another Chinese turbine manufacturer, Goldwind, is the third supplier to wind farms in WA that are under development; either in the Approved, FID / Under construction or Commissioning/Connection stages (see graphic from AltEnergy’s Renewables Radar below).

Later in the week Vestas announced a third new Australian supply contract for 48 x V172-7.2 MW turbines with an installed capacity of 346 MW to an undisclosed customer.

It wouldn’t be too much of a leap to deduce this is for the St Patricks Wind Farm project in Tasmania, which Vestas Development Australia acquired from Ark Energy in July this year.

A development approval amendment allows for 47 turbines to be installed across a number of rural properties near Miena in the Central Highlands, connected to on-site Palmerston to Waddamana powerlines owned by TasNetworks.

However this would leave one turbine from Vestas’s new 48-turbine order unaccounted for.