The deal is significant for a number of reasons.<\/p>\n
First is the entry of Envision as a potentially major force in the Australian wind energy market, which has traditionally been dominated by Vestas and Goldwind. <\/p>\n
The deal with Fortescue, initially for 132 megawatts of what could be a 2.1 gigawatt (GW) project, is its first large contract in Australia, and many developers are looking to the company to add much-needed price competition in a market that has been rocked by rising costs, particularly on the civil construction side.<\/p>\n
Secondly, the marriage of Nabrawind\u2019s \u201cself-lifting\u201d technology with Envision\u2019s EN182-7.8 MW turbines is a fascinating move. Nabrawind says its technology addresses civil construction costs, particularly in remote areas, because it offers faster deployment and smaller foundations.<\/p>\n
See our previous story on this technology: The radical new self-lifting turbines Andrew Forrest wants to install at Australia\u2019s biggest wind project<\/a><\/p>\n The Nabrawind technology is designed to lift the turbine blades higher into the air, meaning it can access stronger wind conditions \u2013 and the combination of lower costs and higher yield could be make or break for projects of that scale.<\/p>\n It does this with a self lifting technology \u2013 which eliminates the need for giant cranes \u2013 a crucial point in remove areas. And its use of a \u201ctripod\u201d base in turns means smaller concrete foundations, and a lot less concrete \u2013 again alleviating a potential logistical headache in remote, hot regions where concrete pours are already a challenge.<\/p>\n Thirdly, the deals announced on Friday underline the fact that Fortescue is serious about its goal of reaching real zero by 2030. Forrest\u2019s green hydrogen dreams may have eluded him \u2013 at least for the moment \u2013 but his determination to rid his giant iron ore mines of fossil fuels is very much alive.<\/p>\n The 2.1 GW East Pilbara generation hub will be supported by the 600 MW or so Turner River solar hub (hence at the deal with Chinese solar PV supplier Longi) and battery storage (hence the deal with global battery giant BYD). <\/p>\n Meanwhile, Fortescue has also lined up a second supplier for the nearly 400 huge 240-tonne battery electric haul trucks that it will need to deploy at its iron ore mines to slash its diesel use.<\/p>\n Envision released a statement noting that its turbines \u2013 \u201cknown for their high efficiency and adaptability\u201d \u2013 will be paired with 188-metre Nabralift steel towers, the tallest of their kind worldwide. <\/p>\n It says this technology is designed to maximise energy production in low-wind conditions and withstand extreme weather including cyclones and typhoons.<\/p>\n \u201cThe project will be among Australia\u2019s first large-scale deployments of this technology, setting a new benchmark for renewable infrastructure and unlocking greater generation capacity and efficiency to help achieve Real Zero,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n In fact, it will be the first in Australia, and among the first anywhere in the world, with Nabrawind rolling out a few pilot and small scale installations in Europe and Africa. <\/p>\n Nabrawind says it has developed a \u201cself lifting\u201d turbine design that is efficient because it means lower costs, easier logistics, and less emissions. It says they are quicker to build, require no heavy cranes, and use much less concrete.<\/p>\n Rather than a single tower, the \u201cNabralift\u201d turbines identified by Forrest in its wind project application use a lattice style structure up to a certain height that can be supported by a three-column structure, which requires smaller footings and less concrete.<\/p>\n Renew Economy understands that the first \u201cintegrated\u201d Envision turbine with Nabrawind technology is being built in China. The first stage of the East Pilbara project will require 17 such turbines, and the first turbines are expected to be erected in 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge of climate change is global, but Australia\u2019s energy transition can lead by example.\u201d\u00a0said Kane Xu, SVP and President of international product line of Envision Energy.<\/p>\n \u201cAustralia\u2019s abundant wind and solar resources, combined with cross-border collaboration and advanced technology, can create resilient, low-cost energy systems capable of fully replacing fossil fuels in industrial operations. <\/p>\n \u201cOur partnership with Fortescue is set to deliver substantial advancements in renewable energy infrastructure, demonstrating how innovation and engineering can reshape the future of energy in hard-to-abate sectors, and setting new benchmarks toward a Real Zero future.\u201d<\/p>\n Fortescue CEO Dino Otranto says the Pilbara has some of the best wind and solar resources in the world, and Fortescue is currently working on its second solar farm, taking its total of co-located solar facilities to three (the first at Chichester is owned by APA).<\/p>\n In total, Fortescue is looking at building between 2 GW and 3 GW of large scale wind and solar, and an as yet unspecific amount of battery storage. The \u201creal zero\u201d target requires no burning of diesel, gas or oil for the company\u2019s mining operations, including transport and mining equipment.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re harnessing these to power our operations with renewables \u2013 cutting emissions while building an energy system that is reliable and efficient for the long term,\u201d Otranto said in a statement.<\/p>\n \u201cBy combining Envision\u2019s world-leading wind turbine technology with Nabrawind\u2019s innovative tower design, we can deliver large-scale renewable energy projects that help us move away from fossil fuels.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Your support is invaluable.<\/a><\/p>\n Giles Parkinson is founder and editor-in-chief of Renew Economy<\/a>, and founder and editor of its EV-focused sister site The Driven<\/a>. He is the co-host of the weekly Energy Insiders Podcast<\/a>. Giles has been a journalist for more than 40 years and is a former deputy editor of the Australian Financial Review. You can find him on LinkedIn and on Twitter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest appears to have gone all-in on a radical new \u201cself-lifting\u201d turbine technology that…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[115428,64,63,75,952,73845,128],"class_list":{"0":"post-179012","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-andrew-forrest","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-environment","12":"tag-featured","13":"tag-fortescue","14":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/p>\n