Construction on what is set to become Australia’s largest, and possibly cheapest, wind farm in Australia has officially started near Beaufort in Victoria.
Victoria’s Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio yesterday visited the Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, about 35 kilometres west of Ballarat to mark the start of the construction.
The wind farm is being developed by Goldwind and will see 149 turbines provide 530 MW of clean energy to power homes across Victoria and beyond.
The project is estimated to be delivering 300 jobs during construction and injecting more than $5 million into the local economy each year.
The Stockyard Hill Wind Farm is part of the Victorian Government’s Renewable Energy Target of 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025.
Other projects underway or proposed in Victoria includes Lal Lal, Moorabool, Murra Warra, Bulgana and Golden Plains – which is set to be even bigger than Stockyard Hill. Eight wind farms have been built in Victoria since 2014 and another nine new wind farms are under construction.
TheStockyard Hill Wind Farm is due to be operational by late 2019.