Taralga Wind Farm, New South Wales

This 107 MW wind farm can generate enough renewable energy to power 38,000 homes.

Location

Queensland, Australia

Client

Santander and CBD Energy (now BlueNRGY)

Project Value

AU $280 million

Project Status

Completed

The Taralga Wind Farm is near the township of Taralga in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales. Wind monitoring has been underway on the project site for more than 10 years.

Originally, the project received approval for 61 wind turbines but in 2012 a variation was sought to reduce the number and to increase the height. The resulting 51 turbines have a range of individual capacities. Together they generate up to 107 MW of clean renewable energy.

Delivering performance and value

We were the Independent Technical Advisor throughout the construction and commissioning phases of the project. Our role included a review of monthly reports from the Principal's Representative, Owner's Engineer, wind farm Engineer, Procurement and Construction (EPC) contractor and transmission line EPC contractor.

We also authorised the cost-to-complete and time-to-complete certificates associated with the principal's drawdown requests to the lenders. We regularly visited the site to check on the progress of the works and attend key operations, including the first major wind turbine generator foundation concrete pour.

Prior to our role as the Independent Technical Advisor, we conducted the technical due diligence to support the wind farm’s financing. Our team reviewed the:

Main construction and operations contracts
Preliminary designs
Associated technical requirements
Available technical information including geotechnical reports
Input into the financial model
Grid connection
Environmental compliance
Equator Principles compliance assessment
Opex and Capex

The Taralga Wind Farm now is owned and operated by Pacific Hydro. The wind farm generates energy that is fed into the national electricity grid and can power up to 38,000 homes.

Homes Powered

38000