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The largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere is now feeding into Victoria’s power grid, the State Government says.
Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio announced today (October 11) the powering up of the $4 billion Golden Plains Wind Farm at Rokewood.
The wind farm will be able to power 765,000 homes — or every home in regional Victoria — when fully operational. It is due for completion in mid-2027, according to the company.
The 1.3-gigawatt (GW) wind farm will produce more than 4000 gigawatt hours (GWh) of energy each year and meet nine per cent of Victoria’s current energy demand.
The government says this capacity will be supported by a 300-megawatt (MW) battery on site to ‘soak’ up excess energy and export it back to the grid.
Minister for Energy and Resources Lily D’Ambrosio says this will mean lower power bills for Victorian households.
“Victoria is 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,” she says.
The farm’s operators, TagEnergy, says work on stage two of the project is due to begin now that funding has been secured. Stage two will involve the construction of 98 wind turbine generators.
“We couldn’t be prouder to be delivering the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere,” said TagEnergy’s Managing Partner for Australia, Andrew Riggs.
“This mega-project materially improves Victoria’s energy security, puts downward pressure on electricity costs and dramatically reduces carbon pollution. Together with our partners, we are accelerating the energy transition,” he says in a media statement.
MP for Eureka Michaela Settle welcomed the news.
“Golden Plains will host Australia’s largest wind farm; we welcome the jobs and renewable energy it provides for the local community and beyond.”
The Golden Plains Wind Farm created about 700 jobs during construction and will generate up to 70 full time ongoing jobs.
