“The local community has been

overwhelmingly supportive of the Ararat

Wind Farm and recognise the significant

benefits associated with a project of this

scale,” RES Australia's Tanya Jackson said.

“Without this community support the

project would have faced many more

challenges throughout development

and construction.

turbines onhe Ararat Wind Farm is located

180km north-west of Melbourne

and between 9-17km north-east

of Ararat on 5000 ha of land owned by

17 separate landholders. The project

is a joint venture between Downer and

GE and also benefits from a power

purchase agreement with the ACT

Government, guaranteeing the purchase

of approximately 40 per cent of the energy

produced at the site.

Project developer RES Australia identified

the high ground around Ararat as a

suitable location for a wind farm and began

initial site feasibility investigations in 2007.

A decade later, power is flowing to the

grid, with 55 of the Ararat Wind Farm’s

75 turbines erected – 40 of those

commissioned and generating electricity.

The project is on track to reach

completion by May, with all of the 75

turbines’ components delivered to site.

The Ararat Wind Farm was the first

major wind farm contract to be signed

following restored bipartisan support for

the Renewable Energy Target (RET) in

June 2015.

The power is transmitted across 21.5km

of transmission line and connection

works, including 106 poles, to the grid

via the 132/220kV transformer installed

at Elmhurst by Beon Energy Solutions

(initially launched as Citipower and

Powercor Energy Solutions).

Beon designed and constructed the

$38 million terminal station housing the

transformer, 22 days ahead of schedule.

Less than a year since construction began on the Ararat Wind Farm, the turbines are turning. The 240MW, 75-turbine facility will be the country’s third-largest wind farm and once completed, it will generate enough electricity to power around 120,000 homes in Victoria.

In April, a 128-tonne transformer required

to convert power generated from the wind

farm to the main electricity grid rolled

through the sleepy town of Elmhurst,

after travelling more than 6000 nautical

miles from Shanghai to the Port of

Melbourne. Transport of the transformer,

the biggest single component of the

project’s construction, required a convoy

of escorts and two prime movers to carry

the 4.2m wide and 50m long trailer along

the Pyrenees Highway through Ararat

and into Elmhurst.

The terminal station and the connection

assets of 106 poles and 21.5km of

transmission line was completed and fully

energised by the end of June 2016.

To convert the 33kV wind farm electrical

collector network to 132kV for transmission

to the electricity grid via the Elmhurst

transformer, two purpose-built

transformers were installed on site.

The transformers, procured via a

$4 million contract with Victorian-

based Wilson Transformer

Company, are more than 8m in

length, 4.5m wide and 7m high

when fully assembled.

The transformers were

manufactured and tested in

Glen Waverley, Victoria, and

represent the completion of a

substantial contract for Wilson

Transformer Company.

GE Downer has completed

the 52km internal access track

across the site.

TAnother major milestone for the Ararat

Wind Farm was the installation by Beon

Energy of the innovative Enchanced

Silicon Polymer (ESP) insulators on the

132kV powerline.

The Ararat Wind Farm was the first to

have the ESP insulators installed.

Previously, porcelain insulators have been

used for this type of construction,

however, the ESP insulator provides

a lighter, quicker and environmentally

safer alternative.

The ESP insulator provides a braced

arrangement, which is stronger and

can withstand higher loads than the

porcelain equivalent. This allows for

longer spans, which lead to a reduced

number of structures for the project.

The ESP insulator is substantially lighter

than porcelain, which saved significant time

in construction. The ESP insulator is also

bird resistant which is critical as the power

line is located in a high bird strike zone.

“We are very happy with the ESP

Insulator, they are lighter to use which

decreases our manual handling risk,

quicker to construct and we never had

any evidence of bird damage as there

was a significant amount of cockatoos in

the area,” Beon Energy Solutions project

manager Michael Kennedy said.

The need for polymer insulators

occurred as transmission voltages rose

through 500kV to 750kV and beyond,

as the loading from porcelain and glass

insulators became extreme.

“Ohio Brass/Hubbell Power Systems

sold the first EPDM alloy polymer

tension insulator in 1976 for a 750kV

transmission line application, and

this early generation was installed in

Australia by 1980,” Bri-Tech’s Cameron

Galbraith said.

“All of these early generation insulators

are still performing, other than where they

have been replaced with upgrades or

route changes.

“Through Hubbell’s process

of continuous improvement, the

polymer was improved to become ESP,

and since 1986, has remained essentially

the same with a unique blend of durability,

mechanical strength, tracking resistance,

hydrophobicity and longevity in the

environment.”

With more than 1.6 million ESP insulators

and arresters in service in Australia alone

and more than 40 years of field installation

experience, there has been only one

insulator reported with serious bird

damage and even that instance did not

result in a field failure.

Polymer insulators provide exceptional

capacity to resist conductor failure and

share load between insulators. ESP has

a proven ability to not attract birds and

resist damage by them.

“Transmission and distribution engineers

now have a major resource to help ensure

optimum value and long-term service

when building lines,” Mr Galbraith said.

“In today’s environment, a utility can’t

afford to build a line and then return

within a year to replace damaged

insulators or even worse deal with

an outage condition or dropped line

generated by a failed insulator.”

“We have made a concerted effort to keep

the community informed of construction

progress and where possible invited them

to share in significant project milestones,

such as the arrival of the first turbine

blade in June.”

INDUSTRY UPDATE

2017 JAN|FEB38

INDUSTRY UPDATE

JAN|FEB 2017 39