Hydro Tasmania has completed a major upgrade of the Huxley Hill Wind Farm on King Island, including the successful repair of a wind turbine damaged during an extreme wind event in 2025.
The project extends the working life of the wind farm’s five turbines by at least 10 years.
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Hydro Tasmania consulting business Entura was responsible for delivering the project and overseeing the repair of the damaged wind turbine.
Hydro Tasmania executive general manager assets and infrastructure Jesse Clark said the project demonstrated how existing renewable energy infrastructure could be renewed in a sustainable way.
“King Island has long been a model for remote communities across Australia and around the world,” he said.
“Completing this upgrade means the wind farm can continue delivering reliable renewable energy for the island for years to come, while reducing costs and waste by making the most of existing infrastructure.”
Rather than replacing the turbines with new units, Hydro Tasmania repowered the wind farm using refurbished equipment and by restoring and reusing as many components as possible.
The project included refurbishment of foundations and towers, installation of restored nacelles refurbished in Denmark, and on-island restoration of turbine blades.
As part of the project, Hydro Tasmania also successfully repaired a turbine that suffered damage to one of its blades, the tower and foundation during a high-speed wind event in early 2025.
Repair works included restoring the damaged section of the tower, repairing concrete at the turbine foundation, rebuilding the rotor with new blades from the original manufacturer, and installing a refurbished nacelle (the generator component).
Located 80km off Tasmania’s north-west coast, King Island is not connected to the mainland electricity grid. The Huxley Hill Wind Farm operates alongside a solar farm, battery storage, and diesel generation to provide reliable power to the island’s residents and businesses.
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The wind farm’s two Vestas V52 turbines alone provide around 32% of King Island’s annual energy demand, displacing approximately 640,000 litres of diesel each year.
