Wheels in motion: Silverton wind, Paralana geothermal
Wed, 1 July 2009
The Silverton wind farm has advanced one step further in the approvals process, after New South Wales Minister for Lands Tony Kelly signed an ‘agreement to lease’ for the wind farm to be located on 32,000 hectares of Crown land, near Silverton, northwest of Broken Hill.
Earlier this month, the first stage of the wind farm was approved by the New South Wales Government, which includes the installation of 282 wind turbines in late 2010. Stage two of the proposal includes a further 316 turbines and a 305 kilometre power line linking the Silverton Wind Farm to Victoria’s Red Cliffs substation and requires further environmental assessment and approval.
Meanwhile, drilling of the four kilometre Paralana 2 injector well has commenced at the Paralana Geothermal Energy Project, 600 kilometres north of Adelaide, South Australia. A joint venture between TruEnergy, Beach Petroleum and Petratherm, the drilling work is a precursor to the construction of a 7.5 MW electricity plant to meet the local electricity needs of the nearby Beverley Uranium Mine, with plans to expand the plant to 30 MW over time.