South Australia’s biggest wind farm will use gearless wind turbines and longer blades than others across Australia.
The wind farm is to power up to 180,000 homes, generating 270 megawatts from 90 wind turbines. David Pryke of Siemens Energy said new technology was helping wind farms compete with power from fossil fuels.
TrustPower & Siemens to build South Australia’s largest wind farm Snowtown II TrustPower has appointed Siemens as their turn-key supplier to construct South Australia’s largest wind farm at Snowtown using for the first time in Australia, …1 August 2012
TrustPower & Siemens to build South Australia’s largest wind farm Snowtown II
TrustPower has appointed Siemens as their turn-key supplier to construct South Australia’s largest wind farm at Snowtown using for the first time in Australia, world-leading gearless drive wind turbine technology.
With the project formally reaching financial close today, the Snowtown II wind farm development will be capable of generating 270 megawatts of renewable energy and powering approximately 180,000 South Australian homes.
Siemens CEO Jeff Connolly says he is pleased to have the opportunity to deliver lead-edge gearless drive technology to TrustPower.
“Our broad project responsibility for this critical piece of sustainable infrastructure is the result of our confidence in the South Australian construction environment and a further extension of our existing commitment to support the state’s development” says Mr Connolly.
TrustPower, a listed New Zealand electricity company, awarded Siemens the contract to engineer, procure, construct and maintain a full turnkey solution for 90 wind turbines including the substation, switchgear and transformers to connect the wind farm into the grid.
CEO of TrustPower Vince Hawksworth said that Siemens’ capability as a leading global supplier of renewable energy and their ability to provide a full end to end solution set them apart from other suppliers.
“The wind farm will be built with the most advanced renewable energy technology on the market. Of critical importance to us was the proven capability to build and connect wind farms to the grid and Siemens as a global supplier has achieved this in some of the most challenging environments in the world,” says Mr Hawksworth.
David Pryke, Head of Siemens Energy says Snowtown offers some of the most ideal wind conditions for the production of renewable energy.
“The wind technology chosen for the project is ideally suited to the Snowtown II site, featuring state-of-the-art gearless drive systems and highly efficient rotor blades allowing us to maximise the delivery of reliable renewable energy from this project,” says Mr Pryke.
The Snowtown II wind farm will cement South Australia as the lead generator of renewable energy having already exceeded the nation’s 20 per cent by 2020 renewable energy target with 26 per cent of South Australia’s electricity now generated by wind. South Australia has now set a target of 33 per cent renewable energy by 2020. The new Snowtown II wind farm is set to help achieve this target.
Snowtown II is co-located with the existing Snowtown wind farm, which will more than triple the renewable energy generation of the region. Early preparations have commenced at the site with construction commencing this month to ensure the project is fully operational by the end of 2014.
TrustPower is New Zealand’s fifth largest electricity retailer/generator, and the sixth largest company by market capitalisation on the NZX.From its base in Tauranga, TrustPower manages a portfolio of 36 hydro generation stations, geographically spread across New Zealand, the Tararua wind farm, New Zealand’s largest, on the North Island’s Tararua Ranges, a second wind farm at Mahinerangi in the South Island, a diesel peaking plant adjacent to the New Zealand oil refinery at Marsden Point, and the Snowtown wind farm in South Australia.
TrustPower, has a market capitalisation on approximately NZ$2.4 billion, an annual operating revenue in excess of NZ$800 million, and is 50.5% owned by New Zealand Infrastructure Investment company Infratil and 33% by the Tauranga Energy Consumer Trust. The company, which employs some 470 people, has around 208,000 retail customers in New Zealand, where it generates, approximately, 2,408 GWh per annum.
TrustPower has been active in Australia for the past decade, and in addition to its successful Snowtown I & II Wind Farms in South Australia, is actively exploring wind farm investment opportunities at sites it has been evaluating in several other states.
TrustPower’s largest shareholder, Infratil, is also active in Australia via its 442,000 customer Lumo Energy electricity retailing operation and Infratil Energy Australia, which has investments in three peaking power stations with a total of 100MW capacity, the Hunter Power station in NSW, and a 65MW peaking facility at Port Stanvas in South Australia which is currently under construction. Infratil Energy Australia also holds 82% of shares in Perth Energy, which has recently completed construction of a 120MW dual fuel power station at Kwinana.
Siemens in Australia and New Zealand
Siemens commenced operations in Australia in 1872 and in New Zealand in 1876. Siemens is recognised as of one of the most reliable and trusted brands in the region. With well-established
businesses in both Australia and New Zealand, Siemens is a diversified technology-based solutions provider specialising in the areas of water, energy, environment, healthcare, productivity, mobility, safety and security. At the end of fiscal 2011 (September 2011), Siemens in Australia and New Zealand
achieved AUD1.6 billion in sales with over 2800 employees. Globally at the end of fiscal year 2011, revenue from the Environment Portfolio totalled EUR 32 billion, making Siemens the world’s largest supplier of ecofriendly technologies. In the same period, the company’s products and solutions enabled their customers to reduce CO2 emissions by 317 million tonnes. This amount equals the combined annual CO2 emissions of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, Delhi, Istanbul, Berlin, London and New York City.
