Currently based in Melbourne, Daniel Astbury manages the delivery of GL Garrad Hassan’s services to South East Asia. Mr Astbury has a mechanical engineering background and has also completed further studies in sustainable energy in both Denmark and Portugal. He has worked on many large wind farm projects in Australia and overseas, and has also undertaken energy related volunteer and pro-bono work in the area of humanitarian engineering.
What does your role as a wind engineer entail?
GL Garrad Hassan carries out technical engineering tasks for our clients throughout the various stages of a renewable energy project’s life. These include early development and planning, pre-construction and construction, commissioning, testing and finally commercial operation.
With the exception of early project development and planning, which requires highly detailed analytical work using complex software packages, my role covers all of these stages – from the development of technical specifications and performance guarantees, negotiating with potential turbine suppliers and construction contractors, to reviewing project designs, and carrying out inspections and measurements on-site.
What are the key elements that determine the legitimacy of a wind farm site?
There are many important areas which require careful consideration when evaluating a potential project, which will differ depending on where the project is located and the developer’s specific approach. Some key elements that could be considered common for a wind farm site include the wind resource characteristics, ability to connect to the electricity transmission network, constructability of the site, and increasingly, the attitudes and understanding of the neighbouring community with respect to wind power.
Much of the work that I undertake in the early development stages is focused not only on maximising electricity production but also on minimising possible impacts upon local residents in relation to noise, visual amenity and electro-magnetic interference. These are all looked at closely by those responsible for approving and financing wind power projects.
How do you decide what kind of wind turbines should be used at a particular site?
In order to provide a common reference point for turbine manufacturers and purchasers, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has produced the 61400 series of standards which deals specifically with electricity producing wind turbines. These standards cover the design and testing of various aspects of a wind turbine and are referred to often by those involved in the wind power industry.
However, standards are only one factor used in the decision process.
In order to avoid a full review of the turbines against the standards for every project, we instead rely upon certification of the machines by recognised independent classification societies or bodies such as GL Renewables Certification. The final selection of a turbine is often subject to a tender process which examines not only the turbine itself, but also the supplier’s ability to deliver on construction, operations and maintenance, warranties and the competitiveness of the pricing.
Could you describe a recent project you have worked, including the challenges and unique features it involved?
I recently spent a number of weeks supporting my colleagues in an Owner’s Engineer role for a large commercial wind farm in India. The role required two weeks of inspections on-site in the northwest state of Rajasthan. The site is located in the Thar Desert, and construction took place during the hottest, driest summer months with temperatures on-site routinely reaching more than 50° Celsius.
As you can probably imagine, these conditions are quite different to those which we typically see during the construction of wind farms in most parts of Australia, and present numerous challenges during the construction of concrete foundations and the installation of turbines. Trips such as this are an excellent opportunity to not only learn more about practices being used overseas but also to share information that we have obtained through our work here in Australia.
