Musselroe Wind Farm – from feasibility to operation
Client: Hydro Tasmania / Roaring 40s
Location: Tasmania, Australia
Date: 2000 – 2013
Developing a wind farm, including feasibility, approval, design and construction, adding valuable renewable energy generation capacity.
Background
Little Musselroe Bay is on Tasmania’s far north-east coast, close to the eastern entrance to Bass Strait, and in an ideal location to capture the power of the ‘roaring 40s’ winds. A wind farm was proposed to add extra generation capacity into Tasmania’s hydropower-dominated power system. The wind farm site is on a grazing property, 100 km north-east of Launceston and 20 km north of Gladstone. The Musselroe wind farm consists of 56 Vestas V90 3 MW wind turbines with a generating capacity of 168 MW. The wind farm connects to Derby via a 50 km 132 kV transmssion line.
Solution
Entura completed technical and financial feasibility analysis, which included reporting on the most suitable transmission connection design, in addition to the preliminary civil, electrical and wind farm design. These analyses also included extensive wind data collection, and long-term wind resource and wind farm energy estimates for business cases.
During the environmental impact assessment, Entura undertook extensive field surveys, including the collation of data on Aboriginal and Eurpoean heritage, social, economic, visual, flora and fauna values. Important issues for the site were areas of cultural significance and the diverse populations of bird species.
Entura was instrumental in ensuring the wind farm and transmission line route gained approval from local, state and federal governments, including meeting the stringent requirements of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
As part of the feasibility study there was liaison with land-owners who may be affected by the transmission line and its easement. These discussions led to rerouting of the initial corridor to accommodate farming requirements.
Entura provided technical support during the construction of the wind farm on issues such as micrositing layout changes and power curve tests.
Outcome
The Musselroe Wind Farm was successfully approved, designed and constructed, and has been operating since 2013, providing a significant proportion of Tasmania’s wind generation.
