Friday 29 November 2013
This afternoon, a band of eager VicWind members were treated to a tour to the Macarthur Wind Farm in South West Victoria. Site manager, Shaun Harrison was the tour guide, showing us around two turbines – one that was off for maintenance and another one that was operating.
A whole lot of things are not apparent until you get up close.
The blades attract lightning and conduct the charge to earth to guard against fires. Technicians working on the towers sometimes have to endure the towers swinging 1-2m side to side as they bend with the wind. Not a place for the sea-sick!
The workforce of around 25 people have a 99.7% attendance rate at work. No issues working around the turbines day after day for these guys.
At the end we were treated to BBQ, cooked to perfection by the multi-skilled Brendan Ryan – AGL’s man on the spot.
It’s the second time I’ve visited this incredible installation and I still find it amazing to see the combination of massive structures and heavy machinery being powered by nothing more than the wind blowing across the paddock.
Amazing.
