GE and Downer partner to deliver $350m Boco Rock Wind Farm

Consortium partners GE Australia and New Zealand and Downer EDI have been awarded contracts to work on stage one of the Boco Rock Wind Farm, providing engineering, procurement and construction services for the $350 million project.

Located just outside Nimmitabel in the Snowy Mountains region, the wind farm will comprise 67 turbines and may expand to 121 turbines. Construction will commence in Q3 this year and is expected to be completed by Q1 2015, with power delivered to the grid from Q4 2014.

GE will supply and commission 58 1.7 MW and nine 1.6 MW wind turbine generators featuring the company’s latest technology, with blades that extend 50 m and an overall height equivalent to 33 storeys. The company will also provide around $50 million worth of maintenance services over 10 years.

Downer’s contribution includes the construction of the 132 kV transmission line and substation; balance of plant, civil and electrical infrastructure; logistics; and erection of the wind turbine generators.

Both companies are highly experienced in the field. GE has installed more than 20,000 wind turbines around the world, having recently helped complete Europe’s largest wind farm (600 MW) in Romania and its first Australian one (55 MW) in Western Australia. Downer, meanwhile, has delivered projects such as the Collgar Wind Farm in Western Australia, Lake Bonney Wind Farm in South Australia, and the Waubra and Mt Mercer Wind Farms in Victoria (the latter currently under construction).

Energy Australia will purchase the energy generated by the 113 MW Boco Rock Wind Farm to provide renewable power for its customers. Clean energy generated by the wind farm will meet the needs of at least 40,000 homes across NSW and offset approximately 300,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per year relative to coal.

GE Renewables Asia-Pacific Leader Peter Cowling noted the project’s contribution to renewable energy generation in Australia and NSW. He said, “Boco Rock Wind Farm complements Australia’s bipartisan target of 45,000 GWh of renewable electricity generation by 2020 and supports the potential identified by the NSW Government’s Draft Renewable Energy Action Plan for wind energy generation to add up to 1085 MW of additional capacity and up to $2.3 billion of extra capital investment.”

GE has been working with Continental Wind Partners (CWP), the developer of Boco Rock Wind Farm, since 2011 to fund the project through the development phase. Thai-listed Electricity Generating Public Company (EGCO) will take 100% ownership of the project from CWP but will retain CWP to manage the wind farm locally.

CWP Director Alex Hewitt said the company is “excited to see the project moving ahead” and “pleased to be able to assist EGCO with our knowledge and expertise of the local market”.

GE A&NZ’s Managing Director Sales and Project Finance, Jason Willoughby, credited all those involved in the project, saying its success “is a result of working with partners with complementary skill sets including GE, Downer EDI, CWP, EGCO, the supportive local community and the banking syndicate”.