One of the country’s first wind farms could break new ground with the owners of the Albany Grasmere Wind Farm considering the largest domestic upgrade of its heritage infrastructure.
The 18-turbine wind farm, 420 kilometres south of Perth on Western Australia’s south coast, was commissioned in 2001 with 12 turbines.
The existing turbines — an additional six were added in 2011 — stand about 60 metres tall with a blade diameter of 70 metres.
WA’s state-run power provider Synergy estimates it generates about 80 per cent of Albany’s electricity needs.
In addition to generating power for Albany the farm is visited by an estimated 200,000 visitors each year.
Once the largest commercial wind farm in Australia, its aging technology means it is a comparative minnow.
“It was a 35-megawatt facility, which was huge at the time. It was nation-leading,” said energy analyst Tom Quinn.
“Today your biggest wind farm in WA is the Warradarge wind farm which is 283MW in size, almost 10 times as big.
Heritage wind farms look to new tech
On average, wind farms have a 30-year shelf life.
While no commercial projects have reached the milestone, Albany Grasmere is one of three across the country approaching the end of its predicted operating life.
Australia’s oldest commercial wind farm in Codrington, Victoria, was commissioned three months before Albany Grasmere and was marked for decommissioning with owners Pacific Blue citing high re-powering costs.
The Huxley Hill wind farm, built on King Island in Tasmania in 1998, is undergoing an $11 million restoration to its existing turbines.
Recent approval for a meteorological mast to measure wind data at Albany Grasmere could indicate that a wholesale expansion of the WA facility may be on the cards.
Mr Quinn said Albany’s power generation was about 1.5 to 1.8MW per wind tower, while modern towers can deliver 6-7MW per tower.
“I would suspect they’ll swap out the entire unit,” Mr Quinn said.
“Modern turbines give you a lot more grunt for the same turbine footprint.
“I think that’s probably going to be the most likely pathway the company will take.”
Owner Bright Energy Investments, which jointly runs the site with Synergy, said a plan for the future of the site was underway.
General manager Tom Frood said data from the yet-to-be built meteorological mast would determine the future of the site.
“[It includes] the option to rebuild the wind turbines with newer technology increasing the generation capacity,” he said.
Mr Frood said the wind farm was an “iconic landmark” that would play a significant role in Western Australia’s sustainable energy future.
City council backs facility
More modern turbines used in newer developments across the region are double in size of those used near Albany.
City of Albany executive director of infrastructure, development and environment Paul Camins said the city was supportive of redeveloping the facility.
“Albany was one of the first regional cities in Australia to embrace wind power and we are proud of the role we have played in advancing renewable energy,” he said.
“We know our community values Albany’s unique natural and coastal landscapes, so any proposal would need to be carefully assessed and considered.
Mr Quinn said the Albany Grasmere site could act as a litmus test for other aging facilities around the country.
“It’s one of the oldest, and it’ll be really interesting to see how they go about this process,” Mr Quinn said.
“We’re going to see more of it, and I think there’s an opportunity to get it right and set that template for how to do this.”