<
https://reneweconomy.com.au/one-of-australias-oldest-wind-farms-could-nearly-double-capacity-by-repowering-with-bigger-turbines/>
"Plans to “repower” an ageing wind farm in north-western Tasmania, almost
doubling its energy generating capacity in the process, are seeking the
all-clear from the federal environment minister, paving the way for what would
be a significant first for Australia’s wind industry.
An application to repower the Woolnorth wind farm joined the queue for
assessment under the EPBC Act on Monday, seeking a green tick to replace the
project’s nearly 20-year old wind turbines with new and much more powerful
models.
The 140MW Woolnorth wind farm is made up of two smaller, adjacent projects –
the 75MW Studland Bay and 63MW Bluff Point wind farms mounted on the cliffs on
the north coast of the island.
They are owned by a joint venture between the Tasmania government-owned Hydro
Tasmania (25%) and China-owned Shenhua Clean Energy Holdings (75%).
According to the referral documents, the Woolnorth repowering project would
replace the 62 existing turbines across the two wind farms – some of which have
been in place since 2002 – with 48 new models, cutting its total turbine count
by 14 while boosting its total combined capacity to 240MW.
According to the EPBC documents, the new turbines would have roughly 120 metre
tall towers, with 90 metre blades, taking them to a maximum tip height 210
metres – compared to around 130 metres tip height of the current turbines.
And while the turbines are expected to be in “generally similar locations” to
the existing layout, each new turbine would require construction of a new
below-ground foundation, as well as a laydown area of around 50m x 50m.
The wind farm’s supporting transmission system would also need to be upgraded
to accommodate the higher output of the turbines, the documents say."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
