Aurora wind farm in southern Chile receives power transformer

Aurora wind farm, developed by Mainstream Renewable Power and owned by Aela Energia will use a 170 MVA (mega volt-amperes) transformer that was manufactured by ABB. The Aurora wind farm will supply clean energy to around 215,000 homes and this state of the art technology plays a key role in the wind farm’s energy production

The project’s power transformer was transported via Route 5 from the port of Chincui de Oxxean in Puerto Montt to the project site in the commune of Llanquihue, some 45 kilometres outside this port city.

“This 109-tonne transformer is designed to step-up the voltage from 33kV to 220kV, which is the voltage required to connect to the 220kV Rahue-Puerto Montt trunk transmission line that runs across the project site,” explains Carlos Moranchel, the Aurora Project Manager. This line is owned by Transelec, a Chilean transmission line company.

The energy generated by the wind farm will be transported, via an underground collector system, to the step-up substation before later being transformed and injected into the National Electricity System (SEN).

The project is located on 3,507 hectares of land situated around 15 kilometres from Llanquihue city, in the region of Los Lagos. The wind farm will have a total of 43 wind turbines, each with an individual capacity of 3MW, amounting to a maximum capacity of 129 MW.

The Aurora wind farm is due to begin operating in December of 2018, providing clean and efficient energy that will help to create a more diversified, sustainable energy mix for Chile.