The Victoria state government has give planning approval to a 400 megawatt (MW) wind project that has been tied up in the approvals process for nearly a decade.
The approval for the Mt Fyans wind farm project near Mortlake, west of Geelong, is believed to be the first major wind project to get approval in three years, and the first since the state revamped its planning process last year.
A smaller, 40 MW wind project at Brewster won approval in February this year, and the 24 MW Wombelano wind project in January last year, but no wind project of this scale for several years. All of the other project approvals have been for solar farms, battery projects, or solar-battery hybrids.
Mt Fyans is proposed by Woolnorth Renewables, which owns several operating wind projects in Tasmania, and will feature 81 turbines. Woolnorth began investigating the site way back in 2008.
“For those who have been following climate and energy policy more closely than the average LinkedIn user, you’d know this is the first permit issued by the Minister for Planning for a large scale wind farm in over 3 years,” said Ken McAlpine, from Spring Street Advisory, which advised Woolnorth.
“So yes, this is a big deal for the clean energy industry.
“Mt Fyans still needs its federal EPBC Act approval, but this is a major step forward for Victoria’s energy transition and it helps pave the way for the scheduled closure of Yallourn coal-fired power station at the end of 2028.”
Victoria Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said the project was referred to a Planning Panel for consideration and included wide-ranging consultation with residents, community groups and government agencies.
The panel recommended the project could proceed, with measures taken to protect local biodiversity, including bats and brolgas.
The project is located in the South-West Renewable Energy Zone, one of six areas identified as most suitable to host new renewable energy generation across Victoria through the newly announced Victorian Transmission Plan.
“We’re making good decisions faster that will still protect the local environment, while providing Victorian households with cheaper energy,” Kilkenny said in a statement.
Victoria has the country’s second highest penetration of wind and solar, with an average 40 per cent share over the last year. With the addition of hydro, the share of renewables total 45 per cent.
The state aims to reach 65 per cent by 2030, after the closure of Yallourn, and then aims for 95 per cent renewable share by 2035, by which time Loy Yang A will have retired, and probably the bulk of Loy Yang B too.
Victoria plans to have offshore wind contributing to its energy mix by 2035, but the bulk of its renewable sources will still need to come from land-based generators, with new transmission linking Tasmania (via Marinus), and NSW (via Project EnergyConnect and VNI West) to help with imports and exports.
Wind has provided 25 per cent of its electricity demand so far in 2025, and 35 per cent in the last 30 days – partly helped by the ramping up of output at the country’s biggest wind project, Golden Plains (pictured above) which will be sized at 1.33 GW when complete.
The state government noted that Victoria – because of its commitment to renewables, it said – has some of the lowest wholesale prices in the country – averaging $106/MWh in the last financial year, compared to $149 in NSW, $144 in Tasmania, $136 in South Australia and $125 in Queensland.
“The Mt Fyans Wind Farm will not only provide cheaper and reliable energy for hundreds of thousands of Victorians – it’ll also provide a major boost to the economy of South-West Victoria,” state energy minister Lily D’Amrbosio said in a statement.
