Australia-based renewables developer Alinta has kicked off the construction of the 214MW Yandin wind farm in Western Australia.
The project, in the Shire of Dandaragan, about 175km north of Perth, will comprise 51 Vestas 4.2MW turbines, which will be installed between January and June in 2020.
Vestas will also service the wind farm when it is completed in the second half of next year.
Landowners, community members and project partners gathered at the site for a sod-turning ceremony and to be able to view, using virtual reality headsets, the placement and scale of the finished turbines.
Alinta merchant energy executive director Ken Woolley said the event was about celebrating the contributions of project partners, the community and landowners.
“Today we’re saying thanks to the landowners, local community and others that helped us get to this point – We’re on track to have the wind farm up and running by the second half of 2020,” Woolley said.
Yandin is expected to cost approximately AUS$400m and will generate around 150 jobs during construction.
Between January and June 2020, over 50,000 tonnes of turbines and machinery will be transported to site. The project will require close to 1 million hours of labour, which will be dedicated to constructing the wind farm to highest standards.
The turbines will only occupy around 0.03% of the project site, which means farming and existing land uses can co-exist.
The high-quality wind resource in the region means the wind farm’s long-term capacity factor is projected to be around 50%, potentially the highest in the country.
At the ceremony Woolley also announced the developer was open to applications for a community fund that will contribute at least A$50,000 (€30,000) to projects and groups within the Shire of Dandaragan each year.
“The fund will be split into two rounds a year of A$25,000 each, with further details available on the project website,” said Woolley.
Shire of Dandaragan chief executive Brent Bailey said: “Our aspiration to be the centre of renewable energy in WA is driven by input from our community, so I hopefully speak on their behalf when I say we are looking forward to the project becoming operational.
“We also welcome contact from other developers who would like to investigate how the Shire can support them to make our vision a reality.”
The wind farm will connect to Western Power’s 330kV electricity network via a new 10km transmission line and terminal station that will be built, owned and operated by Western Power.