Australia’s largest wind project seals energy offtake deal with Snowy Hydro

TagEnergy’s huge Golden Plains wind project has snared its first energy offtake deal, with the federal government-owned gentailer Snowy Hydro signing up to take 40 per cent of the electricity and large-scale generation certificates produced by the Victorian project.

The first 756MW stage of the up to 1.3GW wind farm is currently under construction near Rokewood in Victoria’s south west, with the first turbines going up from July. It will also include a big battery.

TagEnergy CEO Franck Woitiez says the deal with Snowy is the first PPA – but not the last – for the wind farm, which notably achieved financial close in November 2022 on a merchant basis.

“This landmark PPA with Snowy Hydro proves our strategy to progressively contract the energy production during construction and operation,” Woitiez said on Monday.

“It also reflects the confidence major industry players like Snowy Hydro have in our large-scale renewables project expertise,” he said.

Snowy Hydro chief commercial officer Gordon Wymer says the investment structure developed for Golden Plains has provided optimal outcomes for all stakeholders – including locking in a significant portion of Snowy’s energy and LGC needs.

“This has enabled Snowy to continue to expand its ability to provide clean, green, cost-effective renewable energy to our customers, and paves the way for further cooperation with TagEnergy on other developments,” Wymer said.

The $2bn, 122-turbine first stage of Golden Plains is expected to start producing renewable energy in the first quarter of 2025.

Woitiez says the huge project has generated significant interest from a range of potential offtake partners for its quality and location.