Balance of Plant Works – Stage 1
The 180MW Warradarge Wind Farm was officially opened in October 2020, and is currently contributing significantly to Western Australia’s renewable energy generation future.
The Warradarge Wind Farm has a total output of 180 megawatts with a capacity factor of nearly 50 per cent – the equivalent of the average annual electricity needs of 144,000 West Australian homes.
The 51 turbines of the Warradarge Wind Farm were supplied and constructed by global wind energy company Vestas, who engaged Decmil for the civil construction and balance of the plant (CBoP) works.
This Design & Construct contract involved the engineering, procurement and construction of the civil and electrical balance of plant works including wind turbine bases, 55km of new gravel roads around the 3,800ha site, site cabling, switch room and substation.
The scope of works included more than 60km of Electrical reticulation from WTGs to the switchroom, electrical switchrooms, electrical substation including 2 x 200MVA, 330kV transformers, WTGs foundations, crane pads and hardstands.117km of underground 33kV electrical cabling was laid by the construction workforce that averaged around 125 people during construction.
The turbines have a tip height of 152 metres and 67 metres blades.
51 foundations each with 480m³ of concrete were poured from the on-site batch plant. Foundation pouring began at night to ensure the large amount of concrete was poured in one day and to avoid the heat of the day.
