Contract awarded for the biggest wind farm in NSW

Zenviron, an incorporated joint venture between ZEM Energy and Monadelphous Read, has secured a contract from Rye Park Renewable Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tilt Renewable, to deliver the Rye Wind Farm in regional New South Wales.

Under the contract, Zenviron will perform approximately $250 million package of works, delivering balance-of-plant civil and electrical works.

The Rye Park project, located to the north of Yass and east of Boorowa in New South Wales, will feature 66 Vestas turbines rated at 6MW each – the biggest to be installed in Australia to date. It will be the largest operating wind farm in NSW when fully commissioned in 2024, and one of the five biggest in the country.

Zenviron General Manager Carl Keating said the contract marked Zenviron’s third with Tilt Renewables.

“Since its establishment five years ago, Zenviron has been contracted to deliver balance-of-plant works in excess of 2GW for renewable energy projects,” he said.

This is the second major wind project to be awarded this week, indicating new movement in the industry.

On Tuesday, the Queensland Government owned CleanCo announced it will take the bulk of the output from the new 180 MW Dulacca wind project. The Dulacca Wind Farm will be owned Octopus Australia and RES and has already begun construction.

The Rye Park project is expected to produce an average of 1,188GWh a year, equivalent to the annual electricity needs of about 215,000 homes, and will offset 960,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. Zenviron and Lumea will work on the project construction and connections.

More than half of the production from the Rye Park wind project (55 per cent) has been contracted to mining company Newcrest Mining under a 15-year power purchase agreement that will supply the Cadia gold mine in NSW, and help Newcrest reduce its own corporate emissions.

The wind farm will create over 250 jobs during the construction. The project is expected to be completed in Q1 2024.