Wind turbines begin 1,000km journey to St Ives
Seven wind turbines destined for Gold Fields’ landmark $296m St Ives renewable energy project have been unloaded at Geraldton Port in WA.
The cargo includes 80m long turbine blades — weighing more than 24t each and reaching a combined length of 1.7km if laid out end-to-end — and is now ready for transportation by road to the St Ives gold mine near Kambalda.
Gold Fields principal specialist and project director Simon Schmid says arrival of the wind turbine components marked a major milestone for the project team and partners.
“We’re excited to have our turbines onshore in WA, marking another significant step towards delivering this industry-leading renewable energy initiative,” he said.
“We expect that transporting all components will take about two months as they are moved incrementally from Geraldton Port to St Ives, located 80km south of Kalgoorlie.
“People living in and passing through Mid West and Goldfields communities will likely get a glimpse of some of these massive components as they make the journey east-south-east.”
The staggered haulage will be managed by RJA Engineered Transportation, starting September 6, with a carefully coordinated logistics timetable.
The cargo arrival follows recent completion of seven concrete foundations poured at the project site to underpin the turbines, each containing 800m3 of concrete.
When complete, the project will host a 42MW wind farm and a 35MW solar farm spanning 2.5km2. Both the wind and solar farms have been advancing on time and on budget, with construction and commissioning expected to be completed in 2026.
Once operational, the renewable energy system will power more than 70% of the St Ives mine, making it WA’s largest renewable energy initiative at an existing mine site.
As part of the projects, the company is planning a school outreach and education program across the Mid West and Goldfields to help students learn more about the benefits of renewable energy in mining.
Gold Fields has been expanding decarbonisation initiatives across its sites and projects worldwide, as part of its global target of 30% net emission reduction by 2030 from its 2016 baseline.