Iberdrola Australia selects Vertel and Vocus for Cherry Tree Wind Farm
August 4, 2021 – Vertel, Australia’s largest privately-owned telecommunications carrier, along with specialist fibre and network solutions provider Vocus, has provided Cherry Tree Wind Farm with telecommunications infrastructure to facilitate 24/7 monitoring of the site and reliable communications for the team operating the windfarm.
Cherry Tree Wind Farm is located near Seymour, Victoria in the area originally inhabited by the Taungurung people. The wind farm is owned by First Sentier Investors with Iberdrola Australia managing the development, construction, and operation of site. Iberdrola Australia is purchasing 100 per cent of the electricity generated.
Cherry Tree Wind Farm was both a greenfield and remote site, which made telecommunications network infrastructure options limited and complex. Iberdrola Australia needed to find a reliable and highly available solution to meet its requirements. To do this, Vertel was recommended by partner, Vocus, to build a telecommunication network based on microwave technology to provide high capacity, fibre-like-performance services to the wind farm.
Miklos Peter, infrastructure architect, Iberdrola Australia, said, “There was a lot of information on what services might be available and what could be provided. The solution presented by Vertel and Vocus however, met all of Iberdrola Australia’s requirements for Cherry Tree Wind Farm.”
David Moyle, state manager – VIC & TAS, Vocus, said, “Vocus had an existing relationship with Iberdrola Australia, having worked with the team for a number of years providing various services. This project was a natural expansion for both companies, with Vocus recommending Vertel as a trusted partner because of its expertise.”
Along with the traditional microwave service, Vertel developed a unique solution whereby the microwave tower can be powered by the wind turbines themselves. With the requirement for reliable service and backup, Vertel also designed a standalone power source that includes batteries and solar panels, which ensures there is always power available for the network service even if the wind farm is not powered.
Miklos Peter said, “Originally designed for backup purposes, this actually got tested before the wind turbines were even completed, powering the network while the turbines were finished. Once the wind farm was energised, the network was then switched over to wind power. We are very pleased with the performance of the solution.”
Tony Hudson, commercial director, Vertel, said, “Iberdrola Australia chose Vertel because of its depth of experience in regional and remote areas as well as its experience in similar network installations in Australia. Vertel understands the complexities of working in areas that have limited telecommunications infrastructure and continues to innovate and look for solutions that ensure services are delivered in these areas no matter what. This project complements the extensive range of similar wind farm telecommunications projects that have previously been completed by Vertel.”
Miklos Peter said, “The fact that Iberdrola Australia can run the network in a sustainable way by powering it through the wind farm aligns perfectly to the company’s sustainability goals. In addition, knowing that the network will always have power at the site because of the clever design providing failover gives Iberdrola Australia peace of mind. Iberdrola Australia would definitely consider partnering with Vertel and Vocus for future projects and advises other organisations with limited fibre or nbn services to do the same.”
About Iberdrola Australia
Iberdrola Australia is leading Australia to a clean future, today. Our strategy is to provide Australian businesses with firm supplies of reliable and competitively priced clean energy. We generate renewable energy from our fleet of owned wind farms. We also source renewable energy from our portfolio of contracted assets. Our flexible, fast start firming portfolio enables us to manage the intermittency risk associated with selling renewable energy. This strategy enables us to provide our customers with clean energy at firm prices and volumes. For more information, please visit: www.iberdrola.com.au
About Vocus
As a leading specialist fibre and network solutions provider, Vocus connects people, businesses, governments, and communities across Australia and New Zealand, to the world. With a world-class team of experts, we challenge convention and do things differently to make brilliant solutions simple. We own and operate a 30,000km fibre network that is purpose-built and managed for business and government, so we understand how vital high performance and secure network solutions are for any organisation today. Through our well-known retail brands, we deliver simple and affordable broadband, mobile, voice and energy services to Australian and New Zealand consumers and small businesses alike. Above all, we know how important it is to make things simple and reliable, and to give you more control in ways that matter most. We call it brilliant made simple.
About Vertel
Vertel is a wholly-owned, Australian national telecommunications carrier with over 40 years’ experience and have built a reputation as fixed and mobile critical network experts. With a broad range of fixed and mobile network and cloud services, underpinned by excellence in delivery and on-going operations, we specialise in serving customers with high availability, performance, management and security requirements for business, mission and life-critical operations. As the world’s first wireless carrier to achieve MEF certification for its Ethernet Layer 2 service, we can design, build and deliver carrier-grade connectivity and applications for organisations throughout Australia.