Renewables Energy Projects Update Report – 30th April 2023 From Mel
REGIONAL COUNCIL OF GOYDER
RENEWABLES ENERGY PROJECTS UPDATE REPORT
30 APRIL 2023
1 NEOEN – GOYDER RENEWABLES ZONE
Stage 1,2 & 3 – South of Burra & north of Robertstown near World’s End & Bright. Neoen are the Developers, Owners & Operators of the project & have now commenced Goyder South Stage 1A & 1B for the construction of approximately 75 wind turbines in the hills between Burra & Robertstown and Koonoona Road. Goyder South Stage 1 has received development approval for total of 1200 MW of wind generation, 600 MW of solar generation and 900 MW of battery storage capacity making it the state’s largest renewable project.
There are 2 companies who are Consortium Partners with Neoen & are overseeing the project:
- GE Renewable Energy who will be supplying & installing the wind turbines & commissioning the windfarm control system.
- Green Light who will be: 1) designing & supplying all wind farm civil infrastructure (foundations, roads & buildings) 2) design & supply all wind farm civil electrical infrastructure (33kv cables, earthing, communications, wind farm control system) & 3) Design, supply & commission HV substation and overhead power line. Green Light is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elecnor and who are specialists in the integrated management of infrastructure projects.
A site office has been constructed on Springbank Road between Burra & Robertstown. In December 2022, Neoen announced that it had signed 70MW renewable energy baseload contract with BHP to supply power to its Olympic Dam operations from July 2025. Additional information is available on the Goyder Energy News website at the following link: https://goyderenergy.com.au/ (right click & Open Hyperlink). The various works undertaken at present include: Civil earth works on the wind tower pads & access roads, cable trenching, local road upgrades & civil works & construction of overhead transmission towers for the power sub-station work. Components of the wind towers have started arriving at Port Adelaide & will be stored there until ready for construction.
Greenlight & GE Renewable Energy & other contractors have rented approximately 15 properties as well using other motel, hotel, caravan park & Paxton Square cottage accommodation in the Burra, Farrell Flat & Clare areas for their management staff. The civil contractor, Lucas, has now set up a camp for its workers at Hanson just south of Burra as well as using caravans purchased & located in the Burra Caravan Park as accommodation for its workers. The contractors are in the process of deciding on the location & size of a camp as accommodation for additional workers in the Goyder region & discussions with the Goyder Council are in progress.
2 ELECTRANET PROJECT ENERGY CONNECT – INTERCONNECTOR
From the Robertstown Power Substation to the SA/NSW border. Electranet are managing the construction of the transmission line & power substations for the project & the section between Robertstown & Morgan is of particular interest to the local community. The power transmission line is being constructed by Downers & other substation work will be undertaken by Consolidated Power Projects at Robertstown substation and a new smaller substation at Bundey about 12 kms from the Robertstown substation.
Construction of the transmission line towers commenced in May 2022 starting on the SA/NSW border & moving west back to Robertstown. Downer has built camp accommodation for approx 170 workers in Morgan for the construction of the power transmission line between Waikerie & Robertstown which commenced in early 2023. There are 384 transmission towers between the SA border & Robertstown & these are spaced every 600 metres. The foundation pads for each tower are 30 metres by 30 metres. Construction of the foundation pads & towers are steadily progressing in the Morgan to Robertstown section.
Consolidated Power Projects and Enerven have employed approximately 50 workers on the power substation work at Robertstown & Bundey commencing in October 2022. So far, they are using approximately 8 properties for accommodation in the Robertstown, Eudunda & surrounding areas as well as other motel & caravan park accommodation in Eudunda, Morgan, Taylorville & Kapunda. Additional workers will require local accommodation from May 2023.
3 SA WATER – MORGAN WHYALLA PIPELINE RENEWAL
SA Water announced on 10 January 2022, that they are planning to replace sections of the Morgan Whyalla pipeline which is now commencing in approx September 2023. The pipeline is a 358 kilometre long, above ground pipeline that was constructed in the 1940’s for the transfer of bulk water supplies to the Iron Triangle cities of Port Pirie, Port Augusta and Whyalla and supply to the Mid North, Yorke Peninsula and Eyre Peninsula water distribution networks.
SA Water, together with contractors, McConnell Dowell Diona Joint Venture are planning to replace up to 34 kilometres of the pipeline and most of this replacement will be occurring on the section between Morgan and Burra. The sections being replaced will be constructed adjacent to the existing pipeline and will remain above ground.
The commencement of the project has been delayed due to additional environmental consultation requirements & the project will need to be resourced with management staff & workers again.
4 OTHER RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS
Other Renewable Energy projects that are planning to commence in the Goyder region are: Risen Energy – Geranium Plains Solar & Storage Farm (near Robertstown) & Solarig Australia – solar & green hydrogen farm (location not yet advised).
5 OTHER ONGOING RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS
The other ongoing Renewable Energy projects in the region are ongoing and in various planning stages and are generally waiting on the completion of the Interconnector project before they can access their energy production into the power grid. These are: EPS Energy/AMP Energy – Robertstown Solar, Zen Energy – Solar River Project, Green Gold Energy – Australia Plains Solar Farm, Renewable Energy Systems – Twin Creek Wind Farm and Wind Prospect – Whyte Yarcowie Wind Farm.
LOCAL ADVANTAGES & BENEFITS
The Regional Council of Goyder councilors & staff, the Burra Community Association, Eudunda Community Business & Tourism Committee (ECBAT), the Robertstown & District Community & Management Committee & the Mid-Murray Council are ensuring that the maximum possible impact & interaction is gained from these projects in the local communities from Burra to Eudunda & Morgan by connecting the contractors of each project to the local labour force, accommodation & food providers & other businesses. This is being done as a community service project with Mel Zerner, a former local Eudunda resident, voluntarily assisting Goyder Council & the other community groups in this initiative.
Mel is in regular contact with the key owners or employees of all the above projects to obtain status reports and then respond to their local requirements as required.
If you have any questions on the status of the any of the above projects or local requirements or want to include your accommodation, labour or local business services on the registers, please contact Mel on Mobile 0418 852 353.
