Acciona Energy has started the construction of 132MW Mount Gellibrand wind farm in the State of Victoria in Australia.
The construction of the wind farm is expected to cost about A$258m ($193.6m). The wind farm is expected to strengthen the company’s renewable energy portfolio in Australia.
Electricity from the Mount Gellibrand wind farm will be sold in the wholesale electricity market. From the total energy produced, Victorian Government agreed last year to purchase 66MW.
As per the power purchase agreement, the Government will buy clean energy certificates for up to 10 years.
The wind farm will be located about 65km west of Geelong 25km east of Colac. It will include forty four of Nordex’s AW125/3000 wind turbines.
Each of the wind turbine has a rated power of 3MW and a total rotor sweep of 125m. The turbines will be installed on 87.5m high steel tower. With the construction now being started, the wind farm is expected to be in operational by 2018.
During the construction phase, the project is expected to create more than one hundred direct jobs. Equipment supply for the wind farm is also expected to generate employment of several hundred indirect jobs in Victoria.
When the wind farm will begin operations in next July, it will produce about 429GWh of electricity per year, which will be enough to power about 60,000 homes in the region. An amount of 412,000 tonnes of carbon emissions per year are expected to be offset by the wind farm.
Acciona Energy already has about 302.5MW of operational wind power in Australia. With the construction of this wind farm, its capacity will increase to 434.5MW.
Acciona Energy Oceania managing director Andrew Thomson said “We are very pleased to have achieved viability for 132 MW of wind power capacity in Victoria, which will mean higher investment, more jobs and a greater contribution of clean energy to the community, within our clear growth strategy in the country,”
The ground-breaking ceremony of the wind farm was attended by Victorian Renewable Energy Advocate Simon Corbell, Colac Otway Shire Mayor Chris Potter, local business representatives and other community members.
Image: Photo caption: Left to right, Colac Otway Shire CEO Sue Wilkinson, Colac Otway Shire Mayor Chris Potter, Victorian Renewable Energy Advocate Simon Corbell and ACCIONA Energy Oceania Managing Director Andrew Thomson. Photo: Courtesy of ACCIONA.