Australia’s largest approved wind farm is another step closer to speeding the nation’s transition to renewable energy following the successful installation of the first massive turbine at TagEnergy’s Golden Plains Wind Farm near Geelong, Victoria.

Erection of the 149-metre high first wind turbine was completed by the project’s lead Engineering, Procurement and Construction partner Vestas, in just six days following three months of critical civil works and laying the foundation.

The V162 wind turbine was the first of its type to be installed in Victoria, and the first of 122 to be installed for stage one of the project, known as Golden Plains Wind Farm – East. The V162 showcases Vestas’ tallest onshore hub height (149 metres), longest blades (79 metres) and has Vestas’ highest rated output in Australia at 6.2MW.

The logistically complex installation required a team of 25 with expertise across crane management and installation services.

TagEnergy Managing Partner Australia, Andrew Riggs, said “What a sight. Seeing the first turbine in place is an incredible moment in the history of this vital project that will deliver clean energy to the grid to accelerate the energy transition. We trusted in the expertise of our valued partner Vestas and they delivered an incredibly complex installation safely and on schedule in an impressive six days. We’re excited to see more turbines erected as our project moves ever closer to fruition.”

“Together with our civil and installation partners, Vestas is incredibly proud to be leading the ‘build out’ and long-term service operation of Golden Plains Wind Farm – East. As the world’s and Australia’s largest provider of wind energy, we look forward to bringing our world-class wind turbines and energy solutions to this landmark project,” said Danny Nielsen, Country Head Vestas Australia & New Zealand.

Before installation commenced, the first of 1,464 turbine components being delivered to the Port of Geelong on 21 vessels were transported to the project site where more than 100km of internal access tracks are under construction.

The team used a pre-assembly crane to complete three tower sections, before bringing in the main crane to complete the remaining three tower sections, nacelle, power train, hub and three blades.

Customers are already in place for when stage one of the 1.3GW project starts producing renewable energy in the first quarter of 2025 with TagEnergy signing two Power Purchase Agreements (PPAs) that take total volume contracted to 60 percent.

The agreements will see Snowy Hydro take 40 per cent of the energy and green certificates (LGCs) from Golden Plains Wind Farm – East, and global digital infrastructure company Equinix 20 percent.

By the numbers:

Installation, pre-works and logistics

6 days – installation of first main wind turbine safely and efficiently completed
3 months – civil works and laying of concrete foundation in preparation for the install
25 – people with expertise across crane management and installation services involved in the first installation
21 – vessels scheduled to carry Vestas’ turbine components into Geelong
1,464 – turbine components to be transported from Port of Geelong to the site

Wind Turbine Generator (WTG) dimensions

6 x Towers – min. weight 80t, max weight 87t, min. length 11.7m, max length 36m, total length 146.3m. One of the largest bottom sections (T1), 6.4m diameter.

1 x Nacelle – 80t / 1 x Power train – 95t / 1 x Hub – 55t / 3 x Blades – 23t, Length 79m

Civil works

103km – internal access tracks to be constructed
100,000m3 – concreted to be poured
800,000t – material to be used for construction of roads and hardstand

Electrical

190km – trenching
940km – reticulation cable to be installed
220kV – harmonic filter, highest voltage in Australia
200MVar – reactive plant
3 x 67MVar – STATCOM (static synchronous compensator), one of the largest in Australia
1.3GW – total transformer capacity will be energised, one of the largest in Australia