Massive new Victoria wind farm and battery awaits assessment after environmental checks

Plans for an up to 700MW wind farm and big battery in Victoria’s south west have resurfaced, as developers await development approval for the potentially massive project, after being required by to submit an environmental effects statement.

According to the government portal, the proposal for the Hexham wind farm by developers Wind Prospect has been opened to public comment ahead of an assessment by the relevant planning and environment departments.

Documents show Victoria’s minister for planning requested an EES on the project in April of this year under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act, due to “the potential for a range of significant and complex effects that require rigorous assessment.”

An EES was submitted in June, prepared for Hexham wind farms by Nature Advisory. The project plans are now open for public comment until August 17.

According to the referral on the project, the wind farm would include up to 108 wind turbines, with a maximum rotor diameter of 190 metres, maximum blade tip height of 250m and minimum blade ground clearance height of 40m.

It would also include a battery energy storage system (BESS) located close to the terminal station, and five permanent wind monitoring masts, each of them up to 170m high.

Pending approvals, the developers propose to start building the wind farm in mid-2025 and run it for 25 years, until 2050.

The referral says the project would connect to Victoria’s electricity grid network and generate around 2,400 gigawatt-hours of electricity a year.

Its proposed location is roughly 15km west of Mortlake, a few kilometres north-east of the township of Hexham, within the Moyne Shire.

The land proposed for the wind farm has been used for livestock grazing and broad acre cropping, which the developers say could continue over most of the site during construction, operation and decommissioning of the project.

The proposed wind farm first came on RenewEconomy’s radar in 2019, when the company said last month that it was “exploring the possibility of developing” a wind farm with up to 125 turbines.

Wind Prospect said, then, it had been undertaking wind monitoring at the site for “some time” and had been engaging with key stakeholders, including neighbours of the proposed project.

According to a company newsletter at that time, up to 14 landowners were involved in the project.