GIANT WIND FARM CONSTRUCTION CRANKS UP EARLY MILESTONE
Foundation readied for mighty towers
CONSTRUCTION of Queensland’s largest wind farm is powering ahead with the first giant turbine foundation put in place at Mt Emerald on the Atherton Tableland.
Ratch Australia has installed an 800-tonne foundation in the hilly area for its $380 million project near Walkamin.
Each foundation consists of a 50-tonne reinforced steel cage filled with about 750 tonnes of concrete.
The project, which is to be completed in September next year, will include 53 wind turbines, with blade lengths of 57m, generating up to 180.5 megawatts of power from the site.
The company says this will supply, on average, a third of the power needs of the Far North.
Walkamin residents have opposed the project from day one, claiming it will impact local lifestyle and the environment.
Ratch Australia’s Anthony Yeates said the first foundation was always a special milestone in wind farm construction.
“Up until this point, the focal point for construction has been civil works, establishing the site office and constructing access roads following meticulous flora, fauna and unexploded ordnance surveys,” he said.
“Getting the first foundation poured is the first bigticket items on our scope of works that has to do directly with the wind turbines. So for us it’s a special moment that salutes years of hard work by many people in our team.”
Wind turbine components will be delivered over an eightmonth period, starting in October.
The delivery route will involve the trucks heading south from Cairns along the Palmerston and Kennedy Highways before Hansen and Springmount roads are used to get to site.
“It’s exciting to see the project really begin to take shape,” Mr Yeates said. “Now that we have the foundations under way, we hope to have the first tower sections going up within the next two months, followed by the installation of the nacelles (component housings) and then the turbine blades.”.