Selling off turbines for re-use and using a local contractor has allowed decommissioning work on Australia’s second-oldest wind farm to come in under budget, Synergy’s environmental closure planning lead says.
Western Australia utility Synergy started the end-of-life process for the two Esperance wind farms in 2022 – once the option of repowering them was ruled out – and with the turbine removals now finished, the company is opening up about how it’s all gone.
The plans originally assumed most of the site would go to landfill. Instead, the state-owned company sold the six younger turbines from the Nine Mile beach section to Blair Fox, a family-owned electricity company.
“The [other] key factors in coming in under [budget] were the use of the local contractor,” Synergy environmental closure planning lead Kathleen Hammond told the Australian Wind Energy Forum in Melbourne this week.
“They came in about $1 million cheaper than the other two quotes we received.
