Australia’s biggest wind project installs first turbine

Only days after the mammoth Golden Plains Wind Farm signed its second power purchase agreement (PPA), Australia’s largest wind farm has installed its first 6.2MW turbine.

Under development by Portuguese-based clean energy company TagEnergy, the first phase of the Golden Plains Wind Farm has marked an important milestone with the successful installation of its first Vestas wind turbine.

Measuring 149 metres tall with 79-metre-long blades, the V162 turbine is the first of 122 to be installed at the 756 Golden Plains Wind Farm – East – the first stage of the 1.35 GW project, which will be the biggest in Australia when complete.

It took only six days to erect the turbine following on the heels of three months of critical civil works and laying the foundation. Construction got underway with the turning of the first sod in April 2023 and laying the foundations for the 300MW battery storage facility that will be co-located with the wind farm.

The Vestas V162 6.2MW turbine is the first of its type to be installed in Victoria and has the company’s highest rated output in Australia.

“Seeing the first turbine in place is an incredible moment in the history of this vital project that will deliver clean energy to the grid to accelerate the energy transition,” said Andrew Riggs, TagEnergy managing partner for Australia.

“We trusted in the expertise of our valued partner Vestas, and they delivered an incredibly complex installation safely and on schedule in an impressive six days. We’re excited to see more turbines erected as our project moves ever closer to fruition.”

Earlier this week, TagEnergy signed the second PPA for power generated from the 756MW Golden Plains Wind Farm – East with digital infrastructure company Equinix, who will take 20% of the energy and green certificates (LGCs) generated from the wind farm.

TagEnergy had already signed a first PPA with federal government-owned gentailer Snowy Hydro for 40% of the energy and LGCs in the middle of 2023.

The company expects to begin producing renewable energy from the first phase of the wind farm in the first quarter of 2025.