Located in Victoria, Golden Plains wind farm is set to be Australia's largest wind farm to date, with 215 wind turbines spread across the 16,739 ha site.
Our local CMW Geosciences team was engaged to carry out geotechnical investigations for the initial Eastern Stage, and subsequently returned to undertake necessary geotechnical works on the Western Stage as well.
Our Involvement
The site's ground conditions are varied and both stages required boreholes to be drilled at each of the proposed wind turbine locations (215 in total).
An extensive groundwater monitoring program was concurrently undertaken, with wells installed at each location.
These activities provided necessary data to assist with the foundation design of each wind turbine, whilst also helping designers understand the geotechnical constraints and risks associated with each turbine footing.
As the site is primarily privately-owned farmland, it was important our team engaged with the developers, client and landowners in a timely and transparent manner to execute the necessary works.
What we achieved
To date, multiple phases of geotechnical investigations have been carried out across both stages of the wind farm site.
These investigations have encompassed a variety of field and laboratory tests to assess soil and rock properties, groundwater conditions, and other critical geotechnical parameters.
A comprehensive factual report, summarising the findings of these investigations, has been provided to the design team and includes detailed data and analyses - essential for designing the foundations of the wind turbines.
This information aids the design team to make informed decisions ensuring the stability, durability, and efficiency of the wind turbine foundations
The Golden Plains wind farm is set to power more than 765,000 homes across Victoria.
The project has been designed to prevent more than 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted into the atmosphere annually, which is the equivalent of approximately 3% of Victoria's total greenhouse emissions.*
* Source: https://goldenplainswindfarm.com.au/about-golden-plains-wind-farm/