Community and renewables in concert

The lively community session held in late September at Ararat’s Gum San Chinese Heritage Centre was part information day, part jobs fair for the Ararat Wind Farm, where earthworks and road-making, fencing, and anemometric and geotechnical testing are already in full swing.
“It almost felt like a trade expo, with information, banners and posters, and people from the wind farm there to answer questions,” says Bernd Neubauer (below), manager for economic strategy for Ararat Rural City Council.  A steady flow of the curious and keen came through the hall during the afternoon and early evening. Those interested in jobs with the wind farm could make a beeline for the project’s main contractor Downer, and there was an employment register, too. Little wonder that there is, as Neubauer says, “a strong culture of positivity towards renewable energy in this part of the world”.

GE’s latest 3.2 MW wind turbines.

Howes gestures to the distant excavation machinery as he stands on a hill by one of the eight “met masts” being erected by Queensland firm ART (the solar-powered meteorological towers’ anemometers are gathering wind-speed data ahead of the turbines’ arrival in 2016; four will remain permanently on site for ongoing calibration).

“Where the bulldozer and grader are, there will be a turbine on the knoll behind them, and one at the very top of the hill,” he says. “This track will go through to the internal substation that collects the power up from all 75 turbines; then there’s 21 kilometres of transmission line that runs down to Elmherst, where there’s another substation. There’s 54km of track to go in.”

In the coming months, more and more contractors will join those already on site, a boon for local jobs and businesses.

At the top of Big Hill Road, today’s uncharacteristically light wind plays with the paddock’s native grasses as sheep farmer Mark McKew points to a distant concrete stump where rock-anchor testing is in progress on his land. McKew has been an ardent supporter of the AWF project, and his property is being prepared to host five turbines.



Local sheep farmer Mark McKew talks to GEreports about the Ararat Wind Farm.

Ararat Rural City Council’s Neubauer is openly bullish about prospects for this historic gold-mining region. He moved here several months ago to take up the economic strategist role and says Ararat has had, “some booms and a few little busts, but it’s resilient and its industries are quite diverse. At the moment it’s going through steady growth.” He cites State Government funding to upgrade Ararat’s art gallery as an example of the upswing: “It will be one of the most significant regional art galleries in Victoria.” On the warm November day that GEreports comes to town, the vibe in the shops and cafes along the main street is certainly busy and upbeat.

Read more about the impact of the wind farm on other local businesses in our story Wind with benefits.