French energy company Engie has inaugurated its 119MW Willogoleche wind farm located in Hallett, South Australia, which can power up to 80,000 homes.
Powered by 32 of GE’s 3.8MW wind turbines, the Willogoleche wind farm is considered to be one of the largest in South Australia.
Each turbine has 130m rotor blades and claimed to operate across a range of wind speeds, allowing for Engie to generate maximum electricity generating capacity from each of the turbines.
State Minister for Energy and Mining Minister Dan van Holst Pellekaan said: “The Willogoleche Wind Farm adds another significant renewable energy resource to South Australia’s impressive portfolio of wind and solar generation. “Willogoleche’s 119MW capacity will put downward pressure on prices by increasing competition in the South Australia’s energy market.”
“The addition of further wind power adds momentum to the case for associated grid-scale storage and an interconnector between SA and NSW to enable the export of South Australia’s abundant renewable energy to the eastern seaboard.”
Engie invested £141.7m in the wind project
The French company said that it invested A$250m (£141.7m) and follows A$75m (£42.5m) upgrade to its 500MW Pelican Point Power Station. In total, Engie now has more than 800MW wind capacity in South Australia, contribution significantly to the state’s energy security and stability.
Power generated from the Willogoleche wind farm will be supplied by Engie’s retail arm Simply Energy, which has more than 700,000 customers in the country, including 90,000 in the state.
Engie Asia Pacific president and CEO Paul Maguire said: “Willogoleche is the latest demonstration of ENGIE’s long-term commitment to South Australia. This investment significantly increases our local generation capacity to deliver more renewable energy to our growing customer base in the state.
“This opening marks another milestone in our continuing transition across the Asia-Pacific region toward low-carbon energy production and the pursuit of growth opportunities through providing energy efficient and multi-technical solutions to customers.”
In addition to Willogoleche, the company operates the 46MW Canunda wind farm in the state.
