PRESS RELEASE
. Commissioning process under way
· Full production scheduled for August
The first turbine has now been switched on and the blades have started turning, generating the first megawatts of renewable energy at ACCIONA’s Mt Gellibrand wind farm in Victoria.
A commissioning process designed to test the turbines and their electrical connections is now under way. As the 44 turbines come online, energy production will ramp up to around 66MW in July, and the full 132MW capacity in August. Total output will power approximately 60,000 homes.
Construction work began in April 2017 and is now largely complete, with most turbines finished and just a few remaining blades to be installed over the coming days. Civil, substation and electrical works are now complete, laying the groundwork for commissioning.
“It’s a great moment for the team, the local community and Victoria,” said Brett Wickham, ACCIONA Energy Australia’s Managing Director.
“This project represents a $258 million investment in the state and in the Australian renewables sector. We are immensely proud to see energy production starting. We are also grateful to the local community for their support over the past year, and to all the employees and local contractors for their hard work and dedication in reaching this milestone.”
The construction of the project followed a public tender process, in which the Victorian Government committed to purchasing the renewable energy certificates generated from 66MW of Mt Gellibrand. These certificates will contribute to the state’s renewable energy generation targets of 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025.
Mt Gellibrand will be ACCIONA Energy’s fourth wind farm in Australia, after Cathedral Rocks (64 MW in South Australia), Waubra (192 MW in Victoria) and Gunning (46.5 MW in New South Wales). Australia, where ACCIONA has 302.5 MW, ranks fourth in the company’s portfolio of wind assets after Spain, the USA and Mexico.
In addition to developing company-owned facilities, ACCIONA previously built and commissioned a photovoltaic plant near Canberra for a third party, with a rated capacity of 20 MW.
