Origin lands multiple supply deals for Australia’s biggest wind farm

Origin Energy has announced multiple renewable energy supply deals for the Stockyard Hill wind farm in Victoria, which will be the biggest in the state – and the country – when it finally gets to full production.

The new deal – announced two weeks after Origin announced the early closure of the biggest coal generator in the country, Eraring in NSW – has been signed by the company’s newly created Origin Zero business, which will focus on “cleaner” energy supplies to major customers.

The new deal includes a series of contracts – ranging from six to nine years – with seven different customers –  Melbourne Airport, Ausgrid, Nexus Hospitals, Southern Cross Station, NSW Ports, Transurban’s CityLink (Sydney) and Westlink M7 (Melbourne).

Together, it amounts to 132 gigawatt hours of renewable energy output per year, which is a fraction of the anticipated output of around 1,900GWh from Stockyard Hill once it reaches full production.

At 530MW, Stockyard Hill is the biggest wind farm in the country to date. Construction was completed in 2020, but it has been restricted by commissioning delays and is still only producing from little more than half its capacity.

Origin had originally owned the project but sold it to Goldwind, and also sealed an off take agreement for what was then a record low price for electricity and LGCs of less than $55/MWh. It is not known what price has been set for the new supply deals.

The agreements were facilitated through IFM Investors and QIC – the owners or part owners of the various facilities – and Renewable Energy Hub, and delivered through Renewable Energy Hub’s proprietary Core Markets software platform.

Renewable Energy Hub say it is a first of its kind deal facilitated by combining physical and financial market data, and dealing with multiple different requirements from the various customers.

REH’s Chris Halliwell says the advantage of being able to strike these deals through energy retailers is significant, and more such deals will follow. And this will benefit smaller energy customers too, he told RenewEconomy, because of the lower transaction costs by putting them all together.

“Core Markets is designed to facilitate price discovery, identify project options, and minimise transaction costs of carbon and clean energy transactions,” Halliwell said.

Origin’s Greg Jarvis said the company’s strategy is to “lead Australia’s energy transition to net zero emissions, by reducing our own emissions and providing the products and services that can assist customers with their transition to a low-carbon future.

“Our agreements with seven large customers spanning airports, ports, energy infrastructure, roads and hospitals, demonstrate this strategy in action, with Origin increasingly being called upon to provide renewable energy supply, which can help support the decarbonisation of their businesses.

Origin says that renewable energy and storage accounts for more than 20 per cent of the company’s total owned and contracted generation portfolio. Renewable energy accounted for more than 30 per cent of total grid generation in the past year.

Origin’s only coal generator, the 2.88GW Eraring facility in NSW, is now due to close in 2025, instead of 2032, subject to agreements from unions and workers.