This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
GLOBAL energy giant ACCIONA Energia will develop one of the world’s largest onshore wind projects in Queensland, with the new $2 billion 1,000MW Herries Range Wind Farm.
Set to be built in the MacIntyre Wind Precinct, in Southern Queensland Renewable Energy Zone and around 60km west of Warwick, the new farm will bring the precinct’s total value to $4 billion and the total renewable energy capacity to 2,000 MW, which is enough to power 1.4 million homes.
“Our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan is all about bringing more cheaper, cleaner energy into the system, while building the Queensland economy and that’s exactly that this deal does,” said Annastacia Palaszczuk, premier.
“ACCIONA Energia are one of the world’s leading developers of renewable energy projects and this additional $2 billion commitment is a strong endorsement that Queensland is a renewable energy superpower.”
In addition to boosting the government’s $62 billion Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan, it will bring the Sunshine State a step closer to its target of 70% renewable energy by 2032.
“And while industry partnerships like this will be critical to bring more cleaner, cheaper energy into the system, we will importantly still maintain majority public ownership of the Queensland energy system, meaning we will control our energy transformation,” added Palaszczuk.
The MacIntyre Wind Precinct, will now include ACCIONA Energia’s MacIntrye and Herries Range wind farms and government-owned energy company CleanCo’s proposed Karara Wind Farm.
“This precinct will support ongoing local jobs and local supply chain opportunities with hundreds of millions of dollars in procurement from businesses based in and around towns like Warwick, Inglewood and Toowoomba,” said Mick de Brenni, energy minister.
“Importantly, it also means another big step towards energy independence, edging closer and closer to a point where our exposure to global fossil fuel markets and their inflationary impact on energy prices will be over.”
The 180-turbine Herries Range project is set to support up to 600 jobs during construction, with the 162-turbine MacIntyre Wind Farm and publicly owned CleanCo’s proposed 18-turbine Karara Wind Farm already expected to support 400 construction jobs.
“And that’s always been in addition to the 220 workers needed to build Powerlink’s transmission infrastructure that, as part of our new SuperGrid, will deliver the clean energy from MacIntyre Wind Precinct where and when it’s needed,” added Steven Miles, deputy premier.
Queensland now has more than 50 large-scale renewable energy projects finally committed, under construction or operational.
“Make no mistake: Queensland is perfectly positioned to capture and maximise the benefits of what truly is the biggest opportunity since the industrial revolution,” said Cameron Dick, treasurer.
The Herries Range Wind Farm will be ACCIONA Energia’s third clean energy project in the state, with the 600MWp Aldoga solar farm also under development near Gladstone.
“Expanding the MacIntyre Precinct has been a natural decision for us. The precinct is widely supported by farmers, residents and the community,” said Brett Wickham, managing director at ACCIONA Energia.
“And, of course, Queensland’s renewable energy policies have given us the long-term confidence to keep investing in the sunshine state. Our plan is to roll from construction of MacIntyre straight into to Herries Range which will mean that workers can move from one large-scale project to the next whilst staying in the same area.
“We’re looking forward to sharing more details with the community and potential suppliers as the project progresses.”
