First sod turned at Australia’s biggest wind and battery project

The first sod has been turned at the massive Golden Plains wind farm near Rokewood in Victoria, as works get underway on the first 756MW stage of what will be Australia’s largest wind farm, at 1300MW.

The ground-breaking ceremony for the huge project, which will also feature a big battery, was marked on Wednesday by developers TagEnergy and Victorian energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

The milestone has been a long time in the making for the wind farm, which was originally proposed by WestWind for more than 15 years before being bought up by TagEnergy just over a year ago.

Since receiving its first set of approvals from the Andrews Labor government in 2018, the project has been dogged by legal challenges, headed up by the lawyer behind similar battles against fellow Victorian wind project, Bald Hills and against the Delburn wind farm in the Latrobe Valley.

The legal challenge to Golden Plains last year failed to get a hearing in the High Court of Australia, having been defeated in the Victorian Supreme Court and, in August of 2020, the Court of Appeal.

With further court cases threatened, the Victorian government stepped in in June 2022, to amend state planning to allow the wind farm to proceed in the face of the protracted legal challenges. The plaintiffs withdrew all complaints the following month.

The project then landed a unique financing deal, with the federal government’s Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) committing up to $175 million to Stage 1 development, marking the single largest investment in a wind farm by the federal government’s green bank.

This worked to “crowd in” an additional $1.8 billion of private sector funding, including an an impressive list of global financial heavyweights, including CBA, Westpac, Denmark’s EKF, Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank, Japan’s Mizuho Bank and Bank of China.

Another great milestone

“Breaking ground marks another great milestone for this landmark project that will have a profound impact on the shift to clean energy in Victoria and beyond,” said TagEnergy managing partner for Australia, Andrew Riggs.

“The local community has shared the vision of the project and we’re proud to ensure they receive benefits for their support. The additional community projects we and our contractors are funding will enhance safety, comfort and convenience for all.”

Riggs says the next major milestone for the project will be the arrival of turbine components in October followed by first energisation to the grid, expected in September 2024.

The project is also slated to feature a 300MW battery storage facility that will add flexibility and stability to the grid, although the planned storage duration has not been revealed.

On the site this week are about 100 workers from major contractors Vestas and Ausnet Services, with those numbers to grow to 350 as construction ramps up.

“Victoria’s the clean energy investment capital of Australia, and this project is another example of how Victoria’s ambitious renewable energy policies are creating jobs and driving the renewables sector,” said D’Ambrosio on Wednesday.

“Golden Plains wind farm is creating hundreds of local jobs and once complete is capable of generating 9 per cent of Victoria’s total electricity demand.”

TagEnergy says initial works will include transmission line access tracks, turbine foundations and two substations that will connect the project’s clean energy to the grid.

TagEnergy has also announced additional community projects with a combined value of more than $300,000, jointly funded by Vestas, CPP, MPK and AusNet Services, to improve community safety and convenience.