Construction of wind farm

To produce electricity on disused mine site

The construction of Infigen Energy’s Woodlawn wind farm has commenced at Veolia’s Woodlawn Eco-precinct located at Tarago, some 250 km south of Sydney. Covering 6000 hectares, the precinct also houses the Woodlawn bioreactor. The 48.3 MW Woodlawn wind farm, currently under construction, will be owned and operated by Infigen. It will consist of 23 wind turbines and is scheduled for completion in the second half of 2011.

The turbines will generate enough electricity to power approximately 25,000 homes.

“The development of the Woodlawn wind farm by Infigen Energy on Veolia’s property takes our Eco-precinct to the next level - as we convert a disused mine site into a first-class example of environmental sustainability,” Danny Conlon, Veolia’s Group General Manager NSW, said.

“The wind farm will complement the renewable energy production from our existing bioreactor which converts Sydney’s waste gas into electricity - currently to the level of some 3000 homes per year with plans to go to 24,000 homes.”

“For Veolia, it’s another step forward with more to come, including our aquaculture and horticulture trials, as well as our future plans to build a state-of-the-art alternative waste treatment plant,” Conlon said.

David Griffin, General Manager of Development at Infigen Energy, said the company was pleased to be involved with the Eco-precinct concept.

“The Woodlawn Eco-precinct is very well suited for wind energy production in terms of wind and climate patterns, and topography. The Woodlawn wind farm is located adjacent to Infigen’s Capital wind farm which is the largest wind farm in NSW and is used to provide renewable energy to Sydney Water’s desalination plant,” Griffin said.

“This project will take Infigen’s wind energy production capacity in Australia to 556.3 MW,” he said.

Combining waste-to-energy and wind energy, the Eco-precinct is set to be a significant contributor to NSW’s electricity supply.