396MW Rye Park Wind Farm in NSW to create 250 jobs during construction

A new large-scale renewable energy project in New South Wales will soon begin construction after project developer Tilt Renewables – which is part of Powering Australia Renewables (PowAR) –announced it has reached financial close for the Rye Park Wind Farm (RPWF). 

Expected to be the largest wind farm to be built in New South Wales, the 396MW Rye Park Wind Farm is estimated to create 250 jobs during its construction phase and a further 10 ongoing regional jobs once it is operational – opening opportunities for local employment. 

The project’s construction is also anticipated to bring local economic benefits through the provision of accommodation, food, fuel as well as equipment and services. 

“This is considered the first of many investment decisions that will be made over the coming years as the combined business looks to build out the Tilt Renewables development pipeline, which we consider to be the best in the market. 

“The RPWF will be coming online very soon after the foreshadowed closure of the Liddell Power Station in NSW, supporting the transition to a cost-effective, clean energy system and helping the State reach its important energy and environmental ambitions,” PowAR Chief Executive Officer Geoff Dutaillis said. 

Tilt Renewables has also announced the award of contracts to three delivery partners, namely: 

• Vestas for turbine supply and installation 
• Zenviron to deliver electrical and civil balance-of-plant (BoP) 
• Lumea to undertake grid connection 

Vestas, in addition to the supply and installation of wind turbines, will also deliver a 30-year Active Output Management 5,000 service agreement once the construction phase is completed. This enables Vestas to optimise energy production while, at the same time, providing long-term business case certainty to the project. 

“Vestas values our partnership with Tilt Renewables and PowAR as we build on our existing footprint of nearly 400MW of wind energy in Australia. We look forward to providing the installation and long-term maintenance for Rye Park Wind Farm which once operational, will be the largest wind farm in New South Wales,” Head of Vestas Australia and New Zealand Peter Cowling said. 

The 66 wind turbines are expected to be delivered onsite in the third quarter of 2022 and project commissioning to begin in the second quarter of 2023. 

In turn, Zenviron Pty Ltd – a joint venture between Monadelphus and ZEM Energy – announced it has secured a $250 million contract for works that include delivering balance-of-plant civil and electrical works. 

“Zenviron continues to perform strongly in the growing Australian renewable energy market. Since our establishment five years ago, Zenviron has been contracted to deliver balance-of-plant works in excess of 2GW for renewable energy projects, which demonstrates the strength and capability of our company in the sector,” Zenviron General Manager Carl Keating said. 

Lastly, Lumea will be responsible for the construction, ownership and operation of infrastructure that will connect the Rye Park Wind Farm to the National Energy Market. 

“We're tremendously excited about the development at Rye Park which will accelerate our role in meeting Australia’s challenge to transition the energy sector, coming online right as various coal-fired power stations are scheduled to close,” Lumea Chief Executive Officer Richard Lowe said. 

The Rye Park Wind Farm is going to be built on an elevated ridgeline near the town of Rye Park, which is near Yass in the Southern Tablelands. 

Major works onsite will commence in the fourth quarter of 2021, with construction completed and the wind farm operational by the first quarter of 2024. 

Once up and running, the wind farm is projected to generate an average of 1,188GWh of clean energy –enough to power up to 215,000 homes annually. Rye Park Wind Farm is also anticipated to offset 960,000 tonnes of CO2 a year, which is equivalent to removing about 300,000 cars from the road. 

Source: Tilt Renewables (1, 2); Monadelphous Group; Vestas; Lumea; Renew Economy; Renewables Now; Australia New Zealand Infrastructure Pipeline