The Latest on The Bango Wind Farm

A couple of weeks ago it was announced that there could be delays on the Lachlan Valley Way due to the delivery of heavy components for the Bango Wind Farm, so the Phoenix decided to find out more.

It turns out that of the 46 turbines under construction for Bango, 10 turbines have main ‘lifts’ completed (that is, the cranes have lifted the components to the top of the towers). As at the beginning of last week, 23 are considered at the pre-assembled stage, and 33 sets of the turbine components have been delivered to respective locations.

The large components are:

• Blades – 3 sets of blades per tower with each blade consisting of the main section of 65 metres and the tip section of 12 metres, totalling 77 metres in length each.
• Tower sections - 5 per tower
• Nacelles – 1 per tower
• Drive trains – 1 per tower
• Hubs – 1 per tower

Believe it or not, the total mass of major components is 614 tonne per turbine. Now that’s some weight!

In terms of the workers at Bango Wind Farm, there is an average of 180 - 200 men and women working on-site daily. The women are doing a wide range of jobs from administration to engineering, environmental advice, plant and heavy equipment operation, paramedic, electrical / mechanical trades, and more.

As the days grow shorter and the temperature dips, working outdoors can be unpleasant, but the workers at Bango have access to construction site facilities. They are also provided with personal protective clothing for all seasons - including winter.

• Topics:

• Science & Technology