Uungula Wind Farm Project
Uungula Wind Farm, under construction on Wiradjuri Country near Wellington in the NSW Central West, is one of the largest wind farms being built in New South Wales — and a significant contributor to the state's renewable energy transition.
Confluence Environmental is proud to have supported the project's principal contractor, providing integrated asbestos and contaminated land consulting across the construction footprint.
About Uungula Wind Farm
The Uungula Wind Farm comprises 69 GE 6MW wind turbines with a maximum generating capacity of 414MW. Once complete, it will generate enough electricity to power more than 220,000 homes and avoid over 560,000 tonnes of carbon emissions each year, with power contracted to Snowy Hydro under a long-term agreement.
A project of this scale — valued at over $820 million involves extensive civil earthworks across a large rural footprint, including internal access tracks, turbine foundations, cable reticulation, and substation and transmission infrastructure.
Confluence Environmental's Role
Confluence was engaged by the principal contractor to deliver an integrated asbestos and contaminated land consulting scope, spanning assessment, management planning and ongoing project support and to manage the assessment and reporting pathway through to NSW EPA-accredited site auditor sign-off.
Key Services Provided
Naturally Occurring Asbestos Management Plan (NOAMP): Developed as one of the first deliverables on the project, the NOAMP established the framework for identifying, handling and controlling naturally occurring asbestos before major earthworks began — setting the approach for the works that followed.
Proactive Identification & Management of NOA: Ongoing identification and management of naturally occurring asbestos across the construction footprint, enabling risks to be managed ahead of works rather than reactively.
Detailed Site Investigation: A systematic sampling program with over 1,300 samples collected in total, supported by NATA-accredited laboratory analysis and risk-based interpretation against the relevant assessment criteria, in accordance with the NSW contaminated land framework and ASC NEPM.
Asbestos Air Monitoring: Air monitoring during construction activities to confirm that airborne fibre levels remained within acceptable limits and to protect worker and community health.
Clearance Inspections: Clearance inspections to confirm that areas were suitable for ongoing works following the management of identified asbestos.
Project Management & Advisory: Project management and technical advisory across more than 8,000m² of construction works, including coordination of the assessment and reporting pathway and direct liaison with the NSW EPA-accredited site auditor engaged on the project.
Delivering Defensible Work on an Active Construction Site
Large-scale ground disturbance on a rural site requires environmental risks to be identified, characterised and managed before and during earthworks — both to protect worker and community health and to keep a construction programme of this scale on schedule.
Confluence's work had to meet two priorities that often pull against each other: technical defensibility and practicality. The assessment was designed from the outset to withstand independent review by an EPA-accredited site auditor, with the assessment criteria, sampling rationale, laboratory methods and data interpretation all framed to withstand independent scrutiny. At the same time, the Naturally Occurring Asbestos Management Plan was written to be usable by construction teams in the field, with controls proportionate to the actual risk and workable within an active earthworks programme.
Managing the interface with the site auditor was central to the engagement. By anticipating the auditor's technical questions and building the answers into the assessment, Confluence kept the independent review pathway moving which on a project of this scale directly supports both regulatory compliance and the construction schedule.
Supporting NSW's Renewable Energy Transition
Confluence Environmental is committed to supporting the infrastructure and development projects driving NSW forward — including the renewable energy projects central to the state's clean energy future. The Uungula Wind Farm is a significant milestone in that transition, and we are proud to have contributed our contaminated land and hazardous materials expertise to its delivery.
For more information, visit our contaminated land and asbestos and hazardous materials service pages, or get in touch with our team.