Crudine Ridge wind farm to help Sydney Airport turn to renewable energy

Sydney Airport is all set to use a combination of a portion of the power generated from the 135MW Crudine Ridge wind farm owned by Grassroots Renewable Energy and a firming generation from Origin Energy to meet 75% of its power consumption requirements.

The power purchase agreement signed by Sydney Airport in this regard with the parties, is expected to reduce its power costs apart from bringing down its carbon emissions by 50% by 2025.

The Crudine Ridge wind farm is being constructed near Pyramul, 45km south of Mudgee in New South Wales with an investment of AUD 250 million ($184 million). Its owner Grassroots Renewable Energy is an energy investment portfolio owned in turn by CWP Renewables and Partners Group.

Origin Energy, on the other hand, will deliver the firming generation to the Sydney Airport when the power produced by the Crudine Ridge wind farm is not enough to meet the commitment due to low wind speeds.

Sydney Airport will buy power generated from the Crudine Ridge wind farm.

Geoff Culbert – Sydney Airport CEO Geoff Culbert said: “This is a significant step forward for the business. We have been proactively working with Grassroots Renewable Energy and Origin Energy to address how we could better capture energy savings through renewables.

“This innovative arrangement enables us to lock in wholesale costs under attractive terms for one of our significant cost items, while supporting and fostering the growth of renewable energy in Australia.”

The Crudine Ridge Wind Farm, which will feature 37 GE 3.63MW wind turbines,  is expected to meet the power consumption needs of nearly 55,000 homes.  Its construction is being handled by a consortium of GE Renewable Energy and Zenviron under an AUD200 million ($142.15 million) contract.

Greg Jarvis – Origin Energy executive general manager energy supply and operations, commenting on the Sydney Airport deal to buy power from the Crudine Ridge wind farm and the firming generation, said: “When Sydney Airport approached us wanting a cost-effective way to meet their energy needs and reduce emissions, we developed an innovative agreement where we contract the wind and bundle it with firming energy in an all-in-one package.

“Sydney is Australia’s busiest airport, operating around the clock – the combination of wind and firming is perfect to meet their load and help them transition to cleaner energy supply.”

The Crudine Ridge wind farm, which is slated to be fully commissioned and operational in late 2019, will have an annual generation of 400,000Mwh, which in turn will help in reducing the country’s annual carbon emissions by close to 360,000 tons.