Wind farm milestone

Murra Warra Wind Farm has reached the halfway mark in construction with the erection of the 31st of 61 turbines planned for stage one of the site between Horsham and Warracknabeal.

Farm communications officer Susan Findlay-tickner said turbine erection continued at a rate of two turbines a week, depending on weather.

She said work on turbine erection, completion and commissioning involved between 85 and 100 workers on site at Murra Warra daily.

“Numbers of workers on site peaked at 202 in February, with the simultaneous construction of the terminal station,” she said.

“This follows the recent milestone of 1000 inductions of workers on the site, bringing much appreciated employment to the economy.”

Mrs Findlay-tickner said the workforce had completed construction of roads, tracks and hardstands in March and the balance of plant work in April.

RES Australia developed the Murra Warra Wind Farm and retains the role of asset manager. Global investment manager Partners Group owns the farm on behalf of clients.

The overall windfarm includes two stages, the second stage involving a further 55 towers.

Both are different projects and developers are yet to confirm whether stage two will go ahead.

RES Construction project manager Anthony Berzi said the halfway point in the stage-one project was an exciting milestone for the farm.

“RES in Australia is pleased with the progress of this significant project within our construction portfolio,” he said.

“Murra Warra is a world-class project which will be one of the highest-performing wind farms in the southern hemisphere.”

Owners site representative Adam Lenihan said the milestone was ‘a great achievement for all involved’.

“Everyone working to get the project to this point will take satisfaction in reaching this milestone,” he said.

Construction of Murra Warra One started in March last year.

When operational, Murra Warra One will generate enough electricity to power 220,000 Victorian homes annually.

This represents a carbon-dioxide-emissions reduction of about 900,000 tonnes, or the equivalent of removing 320,000 cars from roads a year.