Wind Farm Approved in Victoria, Australia Would Be Largest in Southern Hemispher
Offers Another 17 Million SPR Barrels as Fuel Crisis Deepens With over two decades of journalistic experience working in newspapers, trade publications and as a mining reporter, Andrew Topf is a seasoned writer specializing in… A massive wind farm in the state of Victoria, Australia, has been approved by state authorities, paving the way for the project to go to the federal environment minister for final checks.
ABC News reportsPlanning Minister Sonya Kilkenny this week signed off on the Warracknabeal Energy Park, five months after its environmental impact report was approved.
WestWind Energy plans to build 219 turbines and install two 300-megawatt battery energy storage systems across 26,000 hectares of farmland in the heart of Victoria’s wheat belt.
The site is located in the western part of the state more than 300 kilometers north of the state capital Melbourne.
The energy park would deliver 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy — enough to power 1.2 million homes.
If completed, it would be the largest wind farm in Australia and the biggest in the Southern Hemisphere, overtaking the Golden Plains Wind Farm west of Geelong, Victoria, which has 215 turbines and a 1.33-gigawatt capacity.
ABC News notes Victoria’s final approval for the Warracknabeal Energy Park was made about three weeks before the Labor government enters caretaker mode ahead of the November state election.
The state leads the country with 2,610 megawatts of installed wind capacity, followed closely by South Australia with 2,053 MW.
New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania rank third, fourth and fifth, respectively.
Renewable energy has grown significantly in Victoria, delivering 44.6% of its electricity generation.
Wind occupies around 24% of the total while solar accounts for about 16%.
However, the state still needs coal for over half of its electricity (some estimates put it at 61.5-70%), with the power produced by large coal-fired thermal power stations in the Letrobe Valley such as Loy Yang A, Loy Yang B and Yalloum.
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