The site

AGL partnered with Wind Prospect in 2004 to develop the Hallett Wind Farm site — one of Australia’s largest wind farms. The location for the wind farm line was chosen based on average wind speed yielding in excess of 8 metres per second and grid connection availability.

Suzlon was the turnkey contractor responsible for the engineering, procurement and construction delivery of the entire project. Suzlon’s overall scope and responsibilities included:

* Design and manufacture of the wind turbines * Detailed in-house wind turbine micro-siting * Grid dynamic studies * Design, construction and maintenance of more than 24 km of new access roads * Design and construction of footings and hardstands for each tower * Design, fabrication and installation of steel turbine towers * Shipping, installation and commissioning of the turbines * Design and installation of an electrical feeder system – both below and above ground – linking the turbines to the substation * Design and installation of additions to the existing Hallett substation, including a 275/33 kilovolt (kV) main transformer * Design and installation of reactive equipment * Long term maintenance and service of the entire wind farm.

Technology

The Hallett Wind Farm comprises 45 S88 2.1 megawatt (MW) wind turbines with a total installed capacity of 94.5 MW.

Suzlon’s S88 2.1 MW design philosophy is simple: maximise rotor swept area to generator size, while remaining safely within the GL IIa Type Certification requirements (incorporating the requirements for an IEC IIa Certification), and provide a tough, reliable machine.

The design deliberately prioritises reliability over experimental technological innovation with the objective not only to maximise energy production from the available wind, but also to ensure the wind turbines operate reliably and with minimal maintenance costs during their lifespan.

The Hallett Wind Farm supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) is designed to provide a complete SCADA solution incorporating reporting, control and monitoring of the turbines, 33 kV switchgear, a 33 kV reactive plant including DVAR Control, and a T5 33/275 kV transformer bay. Turbine control, monitoring and data acquisition are provided by a series of proprietary Suzlon controllers and software systems. Substation control, monitoring, data acquisition and other communications for the wind farm are built around a CitectSCADA platform. This was developed by Suzlon and Citect to provide a complete human-machine interface (HMI) accessible wind farm via local or remote communications.

Construction challenges and operating features

Constructing the wind farm on the Brown Hill Range – a site located between Jamestown and Hallett that spreads more than 14km over the Brown Hill Range ridge – posed many technical and logistical challenges.

Given the location of wind farms in typically windy areas, the capacity to mitigate the risks associated with the installation of heavy components at significant heights during high winds was addressed via a diversity of cranage and a work crew very responsive to low wind opportunities. Crews also endured soaring temperatures in the summer months.

Suzlon entered into a long term Service and Maintenance Agreement, requiring the company’s resources to be deployed both on site and at its Melbourne-based head office in a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week monitoring centre.

Environmental impact and success to date

The project is expected to save over 172,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions per annum, which is equivalent to taking approximately 44,103 cars off the road.

Enough green energy will be produced to power approximately 54,000 average Australian households every year.

As at June 2008, the Hallett Wind Farm had generated in excess of 97 gigawatt hours of power.

Future Outlook

Suzlon is again partnering with AGL on the Hallett Stage 2 project located at Hallett Hill, 10.5 km south of Hallett. Already underway, Hallett Stage 2 will comprise 34 Suzlon S88 2.1 MW turbines.

In addition to the Hallett and Hallett Stage 2 projects, Suzlon is currently contracted to deliver a further 137 turbines across wind farms at Snowtown and Clements Gap in South Australia, and near Canberra in New South Wales.