South Australia’s largest wind farm has turned to local manufacturers to help power its turbines.
The first locally-built tower for the Snowtown II wind farm is near completion at the manufacturer’s Whyalla plant.
The wind tower project is a collaboration between the State Government, global technology company Siemens – which is building the wind farm – and local manufacturer E&A Contractors.
The State Government contributed $2 million towards upgrading the E&A Whyalla plant, which led to the company securing the project.
About 20 of the 90 towers for the Snowtown II wind farm are being made at E&A Contractors in Whyalla. The project will result in 120 local jobs.
In total, South Australia’s support of wind farms has led to about $3 billion capital investment in the State, which has translated to more than 800 direct jobs.
Siemens chief executive officer Jeff Connolly said that Siemens set a high quality standard for all supply elements in such projects.
“I congratulate the South Australian Government for their determination and E&A for taking on such a technically complex project. And we look forward to a continuing pipeline of projects to consolidate and expand the expertise gained on successfully establishing local manufacturing capability,” said Connolly.
Construction of the $439 million Snowtown II wind farm commenced in October 2012 and will be completed and operational by the end of 2014.
The Snowtown II wind farm will be South Australia’s largest wind farm, generating enough electricity to power 180,000 homes.
Highlights of the E&A Whyalla project:
• E&A Contractors is building 20 of the 90 towers for Snowtown II
• Towers are constructed in three parts and assembled on site at Snowtown
• Once joined, the towers are 80 metres high
• Each tower weighs 180 tonnes
• The heaviest section is the base which weighs 70 tonnes
• E&A Contractors is employing 120 people on this project
• The Whyalla facility is 12,000 square metres and consists of three main processing halls for this construction project
• Snowtown II will be SA’s largest wind farm generating up to 270MW of power – enough to power 180,000 homes