New Victorian buying group seeks 68GWh of wind power in virtual PPA

A Geelong-based renewable energy buying group has put the call out for a deal to buy 68 gigawatt-hours a year of electricity from a wind farm – either already built or under construction, preferably in the south-west of Victoria.

Barwon Water, Barwon Health and GeelongPort said on Wednesday that they had pooled their collective buying power to attract competitive deals from wind farm developers, which would then help the organisations transition to renewable energy and net-zero emissions.

The collective, called the Barwon Region Renewable Energy Project (BRREP), is seeking a roughly 48MW share of a grid-connected wind farm (or wind farms) as a virtual PPA.

The BRREP said it was “about to launch” a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) for the 10-year PPA, which would be will be available online at Buying for Victoria.

The collective said it was seeking proposals from “existing and new” wind energy developments, but a spokesperson clarified to RenewEconomy that by “new” it meant under construction, as opposed to in the early development stages.

The BRREP is also hoping to keep the deal local – that is, somewhere in the south-west of the state – which gives an early advantage to any existing merchant projects in the area. You can check out RenewEconomy’s Large Scale Wind Map of Australia to see who could be in the running.

“As a group we are looking forward to receiving proposals from existing and new wind energy developments and entering into a long-term arrangement with a project that will help contribute to Victoria’s renewable energy and emissions reduction targets and contribute to creating new jobs and further developing the renewable energy sector,” said Barwon Water Managing Director Tracey Slatter.

“This initiative will be a major step in reducing carbon emissions and will help each of the participating organisations offset rising energy costs, which in turn will help to reduce operating costs.”

The RFP will be available online at Buying for Victoria in August. An information session will be held a couple of weeks later to provide further information.