Origin, Australia’s leading integrated energy company, has announced the successful commencement of renewable energy generation from its 30MW Cullerin Range Wind Farm, the first significant wind farm to become fully operational in NSW.

Located 30 kilometres west of Goulburn in NSW, Cullerin Range Wind Farm is one of the most competitive projects of its kind in Australia, with a capacity factor of 44 percent and proximity to pre-existing electricity transmission infrastructure.

Origin Executive General Manager Energy Markets, Mr Frank Calabria said, “Cullerin Range is making an important contribution to increasing the supply of renewable electricity generation in NSW while helping to lower the State's greenhouse gas emissions.”

“Cullerin Range has an extremely good wind resource and will provide enough renewable electricity to power almost 15,000 typical NSW homes and avoid the production of approximately 100,000 tonnes of carbon annually,” Mr Calabria added.

As Origin’s first self built wind farm, Cullerin Range is an important development within the company’s extensive renewable energy portfolio.

Origin has been an active participant in the wind sector since early this decade when Australia’s first commercial wind farm was opened at Codrington in Victoria – with the offtake fully contracted to Origin. As a significant investor in Australia’s renewable energy industry, Origin holds more than 2,000 MW of wind farm development options including a pipeline of 1,520 MW owned by the Company.

The wind farm assists in meeting Origin’s obligations under the Federal Government’s National Renewable Energy Target and contributes to the significant renewable energy positions held by Origin in Australia and New Zealand. The wind farm also supports customer demand for GreenPower as Origin is the largest green energy provider in Australia with more than 500,000 accredited GreenPower and GreenGas accounts.

Origin acquired the development rights to Cullerin Range from Epuron in January 2008 and following successful completion of construction, the wind farm underwent commissioning between late May and early July this year. All 15 of the wind farm’s 2MW REpower wind turbines are now fully operational, exporting power to Country Energy’s 132kV Goulburn to Yass distribution line, which passes through the northern section of the site.

Construction of the wind farm was a major logistical exercise involving the shipment and delivery of blades, each up to 45 metres in length, from Germany. The turbine towers, which were manufactured in Portland, Victoria, were assembled in three sections with a hub height of 80 metres. In addition to the wind farm itself, building involved engineering activities such as onsite roads to access the turbine sites, and the hardstand areas for the turbine construction.

“Safety is our priority at Cullerin Range and we have conducted rigorous onsite assessments of all safety systems. The turbines have been engineered to protect them from lightning strikes and a detailed earthing design has been incorporated within the tower and foundation. The wind farm has the capability to shut itself down should onsite conditions require and each nacelle is fitted with duplicate sensors to detect wind speed and direction,” Mr Calabria said.

The $95 million Cullerin Range Wind Farm project, at the height of construction activity, employed more than 100 people on site with 60 of these from the local area and is contributing significant investment into the local economy. A number of people in the local area will be involved in the maintenance and operation of the wind farm.

Tags: Origin Energy