“Massive pieces of kit:” Wind blades set sail for Andrew Forrest’s huge hybrid project

The first batch of wind turbine blades for the 450MW first stage of the $3 billion, Andrew Forrest-backed, Clarke Creek renewable energy precinct have set off on the high seas, bound for the port of Gladstone in Queensland.

Windlab, which is building the Clarke Creek Wind Farm for Forrest’s Squadron Energy, shared a picture of the precious cargo this week, noting that each of the turbine blades are 76m long and weigh more than 22 tonnes!

“The turbine components will make port in Gladstone within the next few weeks and then begin their journey to site by road from early January 2023. A major milestone for a game-changing project,” the LinkedIn post says.

A massive project, with massive pieces of kit

The Clarke Creek project, starting with Queensland’s second biggest wind farm, ultimately proposes to add enough solar and battery storage to take its total generation capacity to beyond 1,000MW, with more than 2GWh of storage capacity.

Squadron Energy chairman John Hartman says the wind, solar and storage will complement one another, particularly as the project’s location – a 76,300-hectare site located 150km north-west of Rockhampton – features strong night-time winds and good quality day-time solar resources.

“There is currently a large supply gap in wind generation in order to meet 2030 projections due to the electrification of industry and transport, and we believe large energy hubs like Clarke Creek, which leverage multiple technologies and storage to deliver firmed power, are a crucial solution,” Hartman said.

Wind farm underway

The wind farm, construction of which kicked off in July of this year, will supply around three-quarters of its output to the Queensland government-owned Stanwell Corporation under a 15-year power purchase agreement.

At 450MW, it will be slightly smaller than Queensland’s largest wind project – the 453MW Coopers Gap Wind Farm, which itself is set to be surpassed as Australia’s biggest by the Victorian Stockyard Hill wind farm, which at 530MW will be Australia’s largest operating wind farm once its commissioning is completed.

“The $3 billion Clarke Creek Wind Farm is one of the largest #renewable energy projects in the Southern Hemisphere and will be built over two stages,” Windlab said in its LinkedIn post on Wednesday.

“It will deliver more than 1000MW of clean energy into the Australian energy market, displacing 2.7 million tonnes of carbon … and putting downward pressure on energy prices for Aussie consumers.”

Windlab says construction of Clarke Creek Stage 1 is “well underway,” injecting more than $100 million into the regional economy and creating about 350 construction jobs.

“Stay tuned for updates on where you can catch a glimpse of these massive pieces of kit, heralding the critical transformation of Australia’s energy market and supporting Queensland bold decarbonisation objectives,” it says.