Vestas has received a firm and unconditional order for the supply of 51 wind turbines to the Taralga Wind Farm project in New South Wales, Australia.
The 106.8 megawatt (MW) order is made up of a combination of V90-2.0 MW, V100-1.8 MW and V90-3.0 MW turbines and will be supplied using Australian manufactured steel towers.
The order consisting of an engineering, procurement & construction (EPC) contract plus initial five-year full-scope AOM 4000 service agreement has been placed by Taralga Wind Farm Nominees No.1 Pty Ltd, a joint venture between Spanish banking group, Banco Santander S.A and Sydney based renewable energy developer, CBD Energy Limited.
"Vestas is delighted to be chosen as the wind energy solution provider for the Taralga Wind Farm and to deliver the first wind power project in Australia for Banco Santander and CBD Energy. The realisation of this project demonstrates Vestas’ ability to play a key role in engineering innovative and bankable technical and commercial solutions and is also great news for the local economy,” says Jens Tommerup, President of Vestas Asia Pacific & China.
The turbines will be manufactured and shipped through the second half of 2013 and the first quarter of 2014. Site based construction activities will take place over a seventeen-month period with the wind power plant expected to be fully operational by November 2014. Once commissioned, the Taralga Wind Farm will produce approx 290,000 MWh of clean renewable energy each year and will make a significant contribution to Australia’s 2020 Renewable Energy Target (RET).
CBD Energy CEO and Executive Chairman Gerry McGowan said, “As a result of utilising the Vestas turbines, we have been able to reduce the number of turbines used on the site from 61 to 51. This has considerably reduced the environmental footprint and delivered a major economic uplift to the project.”
Banco Santander Managing Director & Head of Credit Markets for Asia Pacific, David Swindin said, “We are delighted to be part of this exciting project which is our first renewable energy investment in Australia. We look forward to working with Vestas on future projects in this country.”
The Taralga Wind Farm is the latest project in a successful line-up of deals also including Waterloo (111 MW), Collgar (206 MW), Macarthur (420 MW) and Musselroe (168 MW) wind farms that Vestas has been awarded in Australia since 2009. Since 2001, Vestas has installed 836 wind turbines in Australia equating to 1,774 MW of installed generating capacity, the large majority of which is also being operated and maintained by Vestas under long-term service agreements. By the end of 2012, Vestas had installed more than 50 per cent of the total installed wind capacity in Australia.
Every single day, Vestas wind turbines deliver clean energy that supports the global fight against climate change. Wind power from Vestas’ around 49,000 wind turbines currently reduces carbon emissions by over 60 million tonnes of CO2 every year, while at the same time building energy security and independence.
Today, Vestas has delivered wind energy in 73 countries, providing jobs for around 17,000 passionate people at our service and project sites, research facilities, factories and offices all over the world. With 62 per cent more megawatts installed than our closest competitor and more than 56 GW of cumulative installed capacity worldwide, Vestas is the world leader in wind energy.
Wind energy in Australia
- End 1997: 4 MW
- End 1998: 9 MW (+125 %)
- End 1999: 9 MW (- %)
- End 2000: 30 MW (+233.4 %)
- End 2001: 71 MW (+136.7 %)
- End 2002: 103 MW (+45.1 %)
- End 2003: 197 MW (+91.3 %)
- End 2004: 379 MW (+92.4 %)
- End 2005: 579 MW (+52.8 %)
- End 2006: 817 MW (+41.2 %)
- End 2007: 817 MW (- %)
- End 2008: 1,494 MW (+82.9 %)
- End 2009: 1,712 MW (+14.6 %)
- End 2010: 2,020 MW (+18 %)
- End 2011: 2,005 MW (-0.7 %)
- End 2012: 2,584 MW (+28.9 %)