First foundation concrete pour for Granville Harbour Wind Farm
Construction crews onsite at Granville Harbour Wind Farm have successfully completed the first concrete pour for one of the site’s 31 wind turbine foundations.
Each excavated foundation – big enough to hold an entire MONA ferry – requires over 100 concrete truck loads to fill the 20-metre diameter base.
Remaining turbine foundations will be completed over the coming months in preparation for the installation of latest technology Vestas wind turbine generators on 137 metre-high towers.
Granville Harbour Wind Farm Project Director, Lyndon Frearson, said that the successful first foundation pour was a key achievement for the project:
“An enormous amount of preparatory work has been done to get the wind farm site to this point. We have started construction for 25km of access roads, built drainage and environmental controls, installed operations buildings and completed significant excavation works for our wind turbine foundations.
“Our 200-strong construction crews onsite have logged over 350,000 man-hours so far, and have done so with zero Lost Time Injuries, which is also a significant achievement.
“Over the coming months we expect to see more visible signs of progress, with the delivery of massive 62 metre wind turbine blades and towers to site starting in mid September, and the first wind turbines to be installed shortly afterwards.”
Mr Frearson said the remote site had some unique challenges, but overall the wind farm construction was progressing well:
“This winter’s unrelenting weather conditions have slowed some activities down, but we are pushing on and are still on track for the wind farm to generate its first energy by the end of the year.”
“We are extremely grateful for the support we’ve received from the local community and look forward to continuing to work closely with Council and local authorities throughout the project,” said Mr Frearson.
Other achievements at the site include:
• Installation of the transmission line poles over 90% complete.
• Construction of the wind farm’s switchyard.
• Delivery of an 85-tonne transformer to ‘step up’ the clean energy generated onsite ready to be fed into the electricity grid.
The construction of Granville Harbour Wind Farm is set to deliver a significant economic boost to the region with approximately $3.8 million direct investment in the West Coast and around $16 million investment across Tasmania.
The project will provide around 200 jobs during the construction period – including 125 jobs for Tasmanians – and around 10 permanent operational roles once the wind farm is complete.
