Ampcontrol was engaged under a two-year contract to deliver scheduled high-voltage maintenance services at the wind farm. The scope involves annual planned outages to perform inspection and testing across two high-voltage switchyards.
BACKGROUND
Our customer, required High Voltage maintenance and support for their wind farm located in the Central West region of NSW. It comprises of 38 wind turbines, access tracks, local road infrastructure upgrades, electrical connections between the turbines, a 33 kv powerline, an on-site substation, and a 132 kv power line and switching station.
Ampcontrol was engaged under a two-year contract to deliver scheduled high voltage maintenance services at the wind farm. The scope involves annual planned outages to perform inspection and testing across two high voltage switchyards, covering:
• HV circuit breakers
• HV power transformers
• HV instrument transformers
• HV isolators
• Switchyard earthing
• Overhead poles and wires
• Backup diesel generators
SOLUTION
The first round of scheduled maintenance was successfully completed over five days in April by a team of six Electricians and Protection Technicians from Ampcontrol High Voltage Field Services (HVFS), led by the Maintenance Coordinator and Project Service Engineer.
The work was delivered on time and to a high standard, with the client commending the team's performance and expressing interest in engaging Ampcontrol for similar work across additional renewable generation sites.
“I wanted to touch base extend a sincere thank you to you and your team for the outstanding work during last week’s shutdown. Your team’s commitment to safety was clearly demonstrated throughout the process, and we truly appreciate the proactive approach you took to ensure all tasks were carried out without incident,” from Josh F, Site Manager
Completing the work ahead of schedule was a fantastic achievement and a testament to your team’s preparation, coordination, and dedication. It made a significant difference to the overall success of the shutdown and helped us bring our plant online in a timely manner.
A key challenge addressed during the project was delivering comprehensive client reports within a tight timeframe. Traditionally, reporting follows weeks or months after site completion. To streamline this, the Project Electrical Engineer led a pre-outage initiative to overhaul the inspection and testing documentation. By reviewing hundreds of OEM manuals and relevant standards, the Project Electrical Engineer developed a tailored documentation suite designed to capture field data efficiently and accurately.
This innovation enabled the team to deliver over 60 detailed reports within one month of completing site works — a significant improvement on past reporting timelines. The new documentation was praised by both the HVFS maintenance team and the client for its clarity, structure, and completeness.
In addition to scheduled maintenance, Ampcontrol is also the primary contractor for unscheduled maintenance activities at this site. This includes addressing issues identified during routine inspections and responding to faults or failures occurring outside planned outage periods. Several follow-on works have already been initiated under this arrangement, further demonstrating the value and flexibility of the service offering by Ampcontrol.
