The previous largest wind farm was 453MW Coopers Gap in Queensland and has recently had its final turbine completed
Largest wind farm in Australia accredited for the Renewable Energy Target. (Credit: Pixabay/Free-Photos)
The Clean Energy Regulator has approved the accreditation of the largest wind farm under the Renewable Energy Target – Stockyard Hill Wind Farm, Victoria, with a total capacity of 531.9 megawatts. The previous largest wind farm was Coopers Gap in Queensland at 453 megawatts that has recently had its final turbine completed. Accreditation means that Stockyard Hill is eligible to earn Large Scale Generation Certificates when it sends electricity to the grid.
Mr David Parker, Chair of the Clean Energy Regulator said while the Renewable Energy Target was effectively achieved in 2019, the market is maintaining strong investment and delivery of new renewable power stations.
“Australia continues to be a world leader in renewable energy. The accreditation of Australia’s largest wind farm coincides with the largest ever increase in additional renewable energy generation in any one year – that is an additional 6,000 to 8,000 gigawatt hours of large-scale renewable energy in 2020, compared with 2019” Mr Parker said.
“Since the beginning of 2020, we have seen the accreditation of 94 renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 1.3 gigawatts. These projects are expected to generate over 2,600 gigawatt hours in 2020, which is enough to power over 460,000 households. This generation will deliver approximately 2 million tonnes of carbon abatement. An additional 2.1 gigawatts of utility-scale renewable energy is expected to be delivered by the end of 2020”.
There is now 24 gigawatts of accredited capacity under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target, with another four gigawatts currently under construction and two gigawatts with signed power purchase agreements.
“Australians can be confident that our growing supply of renewable electricity, both large and small-scale, is contributing to Australia’s international carbon reduction commitments,” Mr Parker said.
Source: Company Press Release