RATCH-Australia Invites Tenders for Collector Windfarm in New South Wales

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources Australia (Perth, Australia)--RATCH-Australia Pty Limited is seeking expressions of interest from suppliers and contractors for participation in the Collector Windfarm Project, a 204-megawatt (MW) project that was proposed by the company in 2009. The project has been undergoing several phases of approval since then and has reached the final financial approvals phase.

RATCH-Australia Corporation Limited (New South Wales (NSW), Australia) is 80% owned by Thai-based power generation company Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Limited Company (Nonthaburi, Thailand), and 20% owned by Transfield Services Limited (NSW), an engineering services company.

RATCH-Australia is currently waiting for the final development approvals for the project and is seeking to close financing for the project by mid-2013. Once financing is approved, RATCH-Australia will select an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) company so the project can begin pre-construction activities, which are expected to take at least nine months before the actual construction is set for kick off.

Pre-construction activities will involve construction of a substation with two 130 megavolt-ampere (MVA) transformers, switch gear and circuit breakers. The EPC company will engage an electrical contractor, which will construct 35 kilometres (km) of 33-kilovolt (kV) underground electrical and control cabling, and an overhead transmission connection to the existing 330-kV transmission line.

The proposed windfarm will be located in the northwest of the town of Collector, between Collector Road and the Hume Highway. The windfarm will have 68 wind turbines with a capacity of 3 MW each to produce 204 MW of electricity for the grid.

The project proposal will include the building of associated infrastructure, such as access tracks, local road upgrades, electrical connections between the turbines, and a new substation.

RATCH-Australia received environmental consent from the NSW Department of Planning and Infrastructure in 2012. Based on the total capital investment value, the windfarm development assessment process in NSW varies substantially, which in this case involved approvals from state government, Department of Planning and Infrastructure and Planning Commission Assessment of NSW.

The NSW government is preparing a Renewable Energy Action Plan to support the national target of 20% of renewable energy by 2020. This target has been the primary driver of windfarm proposals across NSW.

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