A specialist helicopter crew has been contracted to deliver a 97MW grid connection project by stringing electricity conductor wires along 16km of transmission line from the Hawkesdale Wind Farm to the Tarrone Terminal Station.
This connection will add power for 67,000 houses annually into the National Energy Market (NEM) electricity grid.
Located 40km north-east of Port Fairy, the Hawkesdale Wind Farm is owned by Global Power Generation Australia (GPGA), a division of the Naturgy Energy Group.
Helicopter stringing, or heli-stringing, is a faster alternative to land-based methods and uses significantly less ground infrastructure and heavy machinery.
The heli-stringing team was made up of 24 workers who undertook the work over six 12-hour days.
AusNet Chief Development Officer, Jon D’Sylva, said that this work is part of a broader project to connect the Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale wind farms in Victoria’s south west into the energy grid.
“We are working with Elecnor to design, build and operate the transmission assets that will connect the Hawkesdale Wind Farm to the national electricity grid,” Mr D’Sylva said.
GPGA Managing Director, Pedro Serrano, congratulated AusNet on the innovative approach to the stringing of the transmission line.
“The connection of the Hawkesdale and Ryan Corner wind farms to the national grid brings us closer to meeting the Victorian and national renewable energy targets.”
Featured image: The stringing helicopter preparing for take off. Image credit: AusNet.
