- Published:
- Wednesday 19 April 2023
Australia‘s largest wind farm will soon be under construction in the Golden Plains Shire just 60 kilometres north-west of Geelong. The wind farm is a landmark project supporting Victoria’s transition to a clean energy future.
Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio turned the sod on the 215-turbine wind farm site. Once complete the wind farm will generate 9 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity demand, enough clean energy to power more than 765,000 homes, equivalent to every home in regional Victoria.
The 1,300 megawatt project will be Australia’s largest wind farm and will play a key role in helping meet Victoria’s ambitious 95% renewable energy target by 2035 and net zero emissions by 2045.
This wind farm will prevent more than 4.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from being emitted to the atmosphere annually - equivalent to 3 per cent of Victoria’s total greenhouse emissions. The project also represents a $2 billion investment in Victoria creating an estimated 700 jobs during construction and 72 ongoing jobs.
The wind farm will also feature a 300MW battery storage facility, making a significant contribution to the Victorian Renewable Energy Storage Targets of achieving at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and 6.3 gigawatts by 2035.
A Community Reference Group has been established to oversee community engagement on the project and establish a Community Grants Program for not-for-profit community groups.
Victoria‘s renewable energy targets of 65 per cent clean energy generation by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035 have created certainty for investors with 73 large-scale onshore wind and solar projects either commissioned or in commissioning, with a combined capacity of more than 5.5 gigawatts.
Achieving Victoria’s renewable energy targets is estimated to deliver $9.5 billion in economic development and 59,000 two-year jobs over the period to 2035.
Victoria is well on its way to achieving its emissions reduction target of net zero by 2045. A recent report published by the Commonwealth highlighted Victoria’s emissions declined by 3.8 percent between 2020 and 2021 – this is 32.3 per cent below 2005 levels.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio
“Victoria’s the clean energy investment capital of Australia, and this project is another example of how Victoria’s ambitious renewable energy policies are creating jobs and driving the renewables sector.”
“Golden Plains wind farm is creating hundreds of local jobs and once complete is capable of generating 9 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity demand.”