Wind energy in Australia: Downer Awarded Taralga Wind Farm Contract

Downer EDI Limited (Downer) today announced it had been awarded a contract by Vestas Australian Wind Technology Pty Ltd (Vestas) for the civil and electrical balance of plant infrastructure work on the Taralga Wind Farm project in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales.
This follows the awarding of a contract to Downer last week, by project owner CBD Energy Limited, to construct the transmission line and connection to Marulan substation. The two contracts combined have a total value of approximately $65 million.
The Taralga Wind Farm project will be commissioned progressively from the third quarter of the 2014 calendar year. The wind farm will comprise 51 Vestas wind turbines with a total gross output of 106.8 megawatts and, when complete, will supply power to approximately 45,000 homes.
Vestas’ Managing Director, Danny Nielsen said Vestas was proud to work with a number of new players on this project to make sure Australia continues to create clean energy jobs.
“To have Downer involved in the construction is a great outcome for Vestas and the project owners. The experience of Vestas and Downer in delivering successful wind farm projects together over the past 10 years is a real strength to the project,” Mr Nielsen said.
The Chief Executive Officer of Downer, Grant Fenn, said: “We look forward to working with Vestas and CBD Energy and using our substantial renewable energy expertise to deliver the Taralga Wind Farm project.”
Downer is a leading service provider in the renewable energy market and has worked on other wind farms including Collgar Wind Farm in Western Australia, Lake Bonney Wind Farm in South Australia, Waubra Wind Farm in Victoria and the Mt Mercer Wind Farm, also in Victoria. In June 2013, Downer announced it had been awarded a contract, with consortium partner GE Australia and New Zealand, for work on stage one of the Boco Rock Wind Farm Project in the New South Wales Snowy Mountains region. The total project value of Boco Rock Stage one is approximately $350 million.