Developer dumps 166-turbine wind project proposed for Queensland’s Whitsunday region

A Queensland-focused developer has dumped a 900 megawatt (MW) wind project which it had originally hoped to start building in 2023. 

The 2023 start date may have been ambitious – developer Renewable Energy Partners only announced the project in 2022 – but with timelines shifting, the 166 turbine Proserpine project has been cancelled. 

The wind farm, near Proserpine in the Whitsunday Region of Queensland, may also have included a four hour big battery, possibly sized at 100 MW.

The project was at the final stages of its assessment under the EPBC Act but changing government policy in Queensland, from supportive to renewable energy to making life very difficult, and longer planning timeframes may have stymied development.

Renewable Energy Partners CEO Luke McDonald says the project simply didn’t meet the financial metrics it needed to, in order to take it further.

“The Proserpine Wind Farm has been placed on hold and the EPBC referral withdrawn after it was determined the project is not economically viable in its current form, largely due resource, transmission, equipment and construction costs,” he says.

“This is not an issue solely related to the Proserpine Wind Farm, but reflects broader challenges currently facing wind farm development across the industry.”

A development application was yet to be lodged, but federal assessors started looking at the plans in June last year and had reached the penultimate post-approval stage. 

According to the now-deleted website, construction was due to start on the first of the two 450 MW stages this year and first wind in 2029. 

The project was also the site of a tragic death in April 2024, when a man fell 20m from a met mast.

What is incontrovertible is that Proserpine was in an area chock-full of wind projects. 

Back-to-back wind proposals still stretch 100km alongside the 275 kilovolt (kV) transmission line that will connect to the Copperstring project just to the north. 

Of the original 12 projects proposed for between Mackay and Townsville, seven still stand. 

Renewable Energy Partners is not afraid to scrap projects that won’t work. 

It has dumped seven wind and solar projects in Queensland, but is currently commissioning stage one of the 506 MW Wambo wind farm and building stage two, according to RenewMap.

It’s developing six wind projects and two batteries, and is still involved in the 750 MW, 16 hour Capricornia pumped hydro project after selling it in 2022 to Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners under it’s then-title of Bowen pumped hydro “battery of the north”.

* This article has been updated with comments from Renewable Energy Partners.

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