The Queensland government in Australia has granted an approval for the Clarke Creek wind farm to be developed by Lacour Energy with an investment of A$1bn ($760m).
Image: A wind farm in operation. Photo: courtesy of 2nix/Freedigitalphotos.net.
The Clarke Creek wind project will have a capacity of more than 800MW, which will be generated by a total of 195 wind turbines.
To be built at Clarke Creek in Central Queensland, the new wind farm, located 150km northwest of Rockhampton, will create about 350 construction jobs during its 36-month construction period.
Lacour Energy director Mark Rayner said: “It is a unique renewable energy project which combines excellent wind and solar resources at a location directly adjacent to the backbone of the Powerlink 275 kV transmission network.
“The wind farm development approval is a significant milestone for the project.”
Rayner added that the company will be concluding the feasibility study of the wind farm by the year end with an aim to begin construction in early 2019.
The project also features 200MW of solar panels and a battery storage facility. While the wind turbines will be erected on the mountain range, the solar farm will be built on the lower ground near the Marlborough-Sarina Road.
Once operational, the Clarke Creek wind and solar farm project is expected to produce more than 1800GWh, which represents over 3% of the annual requirement of electricity in Queensland on average every year. The new renewable generation facility will also offset 1.4 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
According to Queensland Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham, the Clarke Creek wind project was part of the state’s A$20bn ($15.26bn) pipeline of energy projects. Out of these, projects worth nearly A$4.5bn ($3.43bn) are either in progress or committed financially.
Lynham said: “Queensland is focused on reaching its 50 per cent renewable energy target by 2030, with more than 20 projects currently either underway or financially committed, creating more than 3500 construction jobs across the state.
“And as we progress to a renewable future, the Palaszczuk Government continues to deliver reliable supply and our two-year guarantee that electricity prices will not rise above inflation.”