Wind Towers a Breeze For Air Ride Technology

South Australian company, Air Ride Technology, are powering ahead in the fabrication of 34 wind towers for a new wind farm located at Millicent in south east South Australia.

The Lake Bonney Wind Farm is currently being developed by Babcock and Brown Wind Power, with Vestas Australian Wind Technology supplying the wind turbines. The first stage of the Lake Bonney project will cost over A$100 million, and result in a total installed capacity of 70 megawatt. It will be the largest wind farm in Australia.

After an extensive tendering process, Air Ride Technology was awarded an A$8 million contract by Vestas to manufacture, outfit, and deliver the wind towers to the Lake Bonney site.

Air Ride is currently fabricating the 67 metre high wind towers, each consisting of 120 tonnes of steel. These towers must be strong enough to withstand huge wind pressures. That's why it's vital that the material used in their construction is up to the job. The towers are constructed of 250 and 350 grade XLERPLATE® steel plate, produced by BlueScope Steel.

"The wind towers are all manufactured to European design standards, which have been developed with Australian conditions in mind. We have to provide materials that closely approximate those materials specified in the standards, and XLERPLATE® 250 and 350 grades are well suited," explains Mike Lewis.

The XLERPLATE® for the project is being supplied by Smorgon Steel, one of BlueScope Steel's distributors. "The partnership between ourselves and Smorgon Steel is critical to the success of the project, and the relationship with BlueScope Steel as the steel provider is equally vital."

"What we are looking for in a supplier is a company that can provide the product on time, and exactly to our specifications. They also need to have the flexibility to work with our organization. The key attributes are delivery, performance, quality, and price."

And BlueScope Steel more than fits the bill, especially given that it's an Australian company, supplying Australian made products. According to Mike Lewis, using a local supplier for the project was important. "Our first preference is to use local suppliers wherever possible, provided that they are able to meet the performance and price objective of the project," he says.

Air Ride Technology will commence delivering the towers to the Lake Bonney site toward the end of the year, and the project will be completed in mid 2004.

XLERPLATE®, a brand of high quality hot rolled plate steel products from BlueScope Steel.