New England Solar’s biggest transformer: 244 tonnes, 2,165km, delivered by ARES

How smart planning and smart solutions brought it from Port Adelaide to Uralla in just over a week.

Ready to roll. The completed 144-tonne transformer was loaded and secured at Port Adelaide ahead of it’s journey to Uralla.

New England Solar’s previous transformer, a 171-tonne unit delivered in 2025, arrived through the Port of Brisbane and travelled just under 1,000km to site. This time, the transformer came in through Port Adelaide, a journey more than twice as long. At ARES, we delivered it in just over a week.

On Friday 2 October, the 244-tonne transformer passed through Uralla on its way to the New England Solar substation, where it will connect the project’s second stage to the grid. The trip took just over a week on the road, but our work behind it started long before the wheels turned.

On the road. The convoy heads north on the New England Highway, with escort vehicles keeping the oversize loads moving safely.

A platform trailer built for one transformer

At 11 metres long and 4.4 metres high, it is the largest transformer supplied to the project so far, so we engineered a combination specifically for it. Six M500 modules formed an 18-row platform behind a two-row dolly, spreading the load across 20 axle rows at 16.5 tonnes per platform row. Independent four-ram steering on every row gives a 15.6-metre turning radius, but every turn was planned at 25 metres to keep manoeuvrability in reserve. Three 240-tonne-rated prime movers pulled, a block truck pushed, and the combination weighed 402 tonnes in total.

Planned before it moved

The journey ran smoothly because of the planning behind it. In August 2025, our crews drove and measured the full route. We then modelled 56 pinch points with detailed swept path analysis, and most needed no modifications at all. We assessed four overpasses, 12 gantries, 15 rail level crossings and six rail bridges, and commissioned a powerline survey. The plan went through four revisions with road, rail and power authorities across two states, and on the road our crew worked from a live route document holding every condition and crossing.

Even the first metre was considered. At Port Adelaide, we chose the dedicated OSOM gate over the main gate, avoiding two difficult turns at the very start.

The long way round

Our convoy headed north through Jamestown and Peterborough, crossed into NSW at Cockburn, then continued through Broken Hill, Bourke, Walgett, Narrabri, Gunnedah and Tamworth: 555km in South Australia and 1,610km in New South Wales. The final climb was the Moonbi Range, where Transport for NSW temporarily closed the New England Highway to let the load through.

Delivered, and ready for what’s next

ACEN reports that the transformer is on site and installation is underway. For the project team, that is the result that matters, and it is the one we set out to deliver: the route, the equipment and the approvals all worked as planned.

It is the kind of outcome careful preparation makes possible. When the route has been surveyed, the platform is built around the load and every turn is planned before it is needed, even a journey across two states can become just over a week of steady, predictable travel.