A delegate of the Minister of Planning has today endorsed our plans for the development and management of the construction and operation of the Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale wind farms, and that the Early Works construction at both projects will commence at the start of March 2012
Union Fenosa Wind Australia announces the commencement of Early Works construction at Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale wind farms
Union Fenosa Wind Australia (UFWA), the Australian subsidiary of Gas Natural Fenosa, is proud to announce that a delegate of the Minister of Planning has today endorsed our plans for the development and management of the construction and operation of the Ryan Corner and Hawkesdale wind farms, and that the Early Works construction at both projects will commence at the start of March 2012.
The construction works will be completed by G.R Carrs Construction from Portland, who won the contract to build the works at both the wind farm sites in August 2011. The Early Works consist of: a VicRoads – approved entrance to both sites from public roads a site compound for the location of the Site Management Team and internal access tracks.
The Early Works should be completed at both sites by mid April, and with limited inconvenience to the local community.
Union Fenosa’s Managing Director, Domingo Asuero, said that “the endorsement of these plans finally allows us to start the wind farm construction. In a few days we will provide site possession to G.R Carr Construction to commence the early works”. Project Development Manager Shaq Mohajerani said “we’re very pleased with the endorsement and approval of the development plans. They've been subject to a long and detailed assessment process, and we're grateful to the Department for their cooperation to meet such a tight time-frame.”
The commencement of the works follows 4 months of community engagement meetings in the district. Union Fenosa’s Legal Manager Tom Mitchell has conducted monthly meetings with residents since December at Hawkesdale, Woolsthorpe, Koroit, Yambuk, and Port Fairy. “The meetings have been well-attended and we’re happy with the feedback we’ve been getting. Most of the inquiries we get come from businesses asking about the prospect of supplying goods and services to the projects, but we’ve also discussed issues like drainage, road use, school buses, and some understandable confusion about the wind farm planning laws.” He added “now that we have all the permits to build we will send a construction-related newsletter to residents in the district”.
The company’s Community Engagement Strategy will be available at the Moyne Shire Council offices in Port Fairy and Hawkesdale in March, as well as on the company’s website.
The two projects together will generate 196MW of clean renewable energy, which is sufficient to power approximately 80,000 homes while saving approximately 480,000 tonnes of greenhouse emissions annually. Union Fenosa will invest almost $500 million to build and operate both projects.