The 453MW wind farm will be located at Cooranga North, about 250km north-west of Brisbane and it is due for completion in 2019. The wind farm is expected to generate about 1510,000MWh of renewable energy annually.

For the wind farm, GE will supply 91 of its 3.6 MW turbines with 137m rotors and 32 of its 3.8 MW turbines with 130m rotors. Additionally, GE has signed a 25-year full service agreement for the maintenance of the wind farm.

The clean electricity generated by the wind farm will be sufficient to power about 260,000 Australian homes, while offsetting about 1180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. 

The Coopers Gap wind farm is the second renewable project that GE and AGL will be working on, with the first being the Silverton Wind Farm in western New South Wales.

The project is expected to create about 200 local jobs during the construction phase and about 20 permanent operational jobs after its completion. Construction of the wind farm will be handled by CATCON.

GE Australia, New Zealand & Papua New Guinea president & CEO Geoff Culbert said: “We are proud to be working with AGL to support Australia’s transition to a cleaner, modern energy system.

“AGL’s commitment to a lower emissions future is clear. The company announced earlier this year it would ramp up investment in renewable energy and decarbonise its generation by 2050. This wind farm represents a significant step towards that goal and we are proud to be a part of that.”

AGL CEO & managing director Andy Vesey said: “More than 800 MW of projects have now been vended into PARF in its first 12 months of operation, following the earlier transactions involving the Silverton wind farm project and Nyngan and Broken Hill solar plants in New South Wales.

“The strong support we have received from our equity partners and lenders for these projects is testament to the readiness of the private sector to invest in Australia’s energy transformation.

“Certainty on energy policy, including the implementation of the recommendations of the Finkel Review, will enable more projects of this kind to go ahead and help place downward pressure on energy prices by increasing supply.”

PARF is a partnership between AGL Energy and Queensland Investment with 20 and 80% stakes, respectively.  

Image: GE to supply turbines for 453MW wind farm in Australia. Photo: Courtesy of General Electric.