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Warradarge wind farm could supply up to 135,000 homes

Headshot of Geoff Vivian
Geoff VivianMidwest Times
The new Warradarge wind farm.
Camera IconThe new Warradarge wind farm. Credit: WA Energy minister Bill Johnston/Supplied

WA Energy Minister Bill Johnston officially opened the 180MW Warradarge Wind Farm this morning.

Through a staged commissioning process, the 51-turbine wind farm is expected to power up to its full generating capacity of 180MW by the end of this month.

Bright Energy Investments general manager Tom Frood said the project had been delivered successfully despite the challenges relating to COVID-19.

“More than 200 jobs were created during construction of the wind farm, which was completed within 12 months from first mobilisation to site,” he said.

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“At full power, the Warradarge Wind Farm will generate enough renewable energy to supply the equivalent of 135,000 Western Australian homes.”

Mr Frood said the location was chosen to take advantage of its proximity to transmission infrastructure and the region’s abundant wind resources.

“Each turbine weighs 181 tonnes with 67m-long blades, has a hub height of 84m and height of 151m to the top of the blade tip,” he said.

“Specialist technicians are now busy running tests on each of the turbines in turn in preparation for the generation and export from the entire wind farm into the South West Interconnected System following commissioning.”

Mr Frood said his company had also completed the stage-two expansion of the Greenough River Solar Farm and refurbishment works to extend the life of the Albany Grasmere Wind Farm. Mr Johnston said the Warradarge Wind Farm would become one of the best large-scale renewables projects in Australia.

“The McGowan Government is committed to improving energy affordability and creating a cleaner, greener energy system for Western Australians,” he said.

“This is a project that has delivered local jobs using local contractors and will further secure the future of energy supply.”

Mr Johnston said there were currently 25 to 30 workers commissioning the site and up to 10 jobs would be required during the operational phase.

Warradarge’s turbine parts were manufactured by Vestas, with the supporting infrastructure works undertaken by local contractor Decmil.

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