Octopus adds 1GW wind farm to its massive renewable and storage plans in NSW

Barnaby Joyce has a new company to boycott, with Octopus Australia unveiling plans to build a massive 1GW wind farm in south-west New South Wales, on 28,000 hectares of land it has bought near Deniliquin.

Octopus said on Tuesday that development of the new $3.5 billion, 1GW Merino Wind Farm was being planned for adjacent to the 400MW Saltbush (formerly Hay Plains) wind farm, which is also owned by Octopus.

The two projects totaling more than 1.5GW of power will be supported byother large scale solar and battery storage, creating a massive firmed renewable energy generation for the area. It is just one of a number of huge renewable projects jockeying for position in the

The company, says the additional land also offers the potential to connect to key transmission lines in the future, strategically positioning Octopus for the upcoming and future Access Rights Tenders.

And while Barnaby claims wind is “killing us” in the country, Octopus says the now up to 35,000 hectares it has secured in the South-West NSW Renewable Energy Zone (SW-NSW REZ) comes down to “the strong trust and relationships” it has established with local landowners.

“Octopus is committed to building on its existing relationships and collaborating with the community, neighbours, and traditional custodians of the land to ensure these projects become a sustainable and valuable part of the region’s future,” the company said on Tuesday.

Darren Brown, co-managing director of Octopus Australia says the land acquisition marks a major milestone in the company’s strategy to “model” what Australia’s future clean energy base will look like.

“These cornerstone wind assets, supplemented with Octopus’ storage and solar developments across the NEM, are designed to be an integrated, multi-technology portfolio that can offer truly unique and differentiated Power Purchase Agreement products to energy customers and sustainable value to investors,” Brown said.

Octopus says it now has an operating and development portfolio in Australia of over $11 billion, including the Dulacca wind farm in Queensland and the neighbouring Ardandra solar and battery project.

It also owns the Darlington Point solar project, the Hay wind farm and the Blind Creek solar and battery projects in NSW, and the Fulham solar farm in Victoria.

In Queensland it last year acquired the 500MW/1000MWh Blackstone battery project, proposed for development next to the sub-station of the same name, not far from the site of the Swanbank power station, where owner CleanCo plans its own 250MW/500MWh battery as part of a revamp of the site into a clean energy hub.