Plans unveiled for five gigawatt wind project, the biggest on Australia’s main grid

Plans have been unveiled for what would be – by some distance – the biggest wind project on Australia’s main grid, a five gigawatt (GW) proposal for north Queensland.

The Bogunda wind farm has been unveiled by Australian developer Renewable Energy Partners (REP) and would be located in a region south-east of Hughenden, and would connect to the proposed new Copperstring transmission line that will link the coastal areas with the mineral-rich regions out towards Mount Isa.

The project is very much in its early stages, but REP hopes to get a first 2 GW stage up and running by the end of the decade, at a cost of around $5 billion – although the timing will be dependent on progress with the Copperstring power line which will be able to host around 5 GW of new capacity.

To put the size of the project in context, currently the biggest operating wind project in Australia is the 536 megawatt (MW) Stockyard Hill wind farm in Victoria, although two bigger projects – the 923 MW MacIntyre wind farm in Queensland and the 1.33 GW Golden Plains wind farm in Victoria – are currently under construction.

The push towards gigawatt scale projects is accelerating – particularly in the south-west of NSW, areas of Queensland, and in offshore wind zones.

But Bogunda – which means “is a word”big wind” in the local Yirandhali language – is the first project to be conceived at this scale for the main grid, although some bigger wind projects have been mooted “off-grid” to support big green hydrogen plans. Those projects, however, could be a decade away from development.

“Hughenden has a phenomenal wind resource, strong local support and benefits from the recent commencement of construction of the 500kV Copperstring transmission line by Powerlink,” REP chief executive officer Luke McDonald said in a statement on Tuesday.

The Hughenden region has long been targeted for wind projects. It already hosts the 59 MW Kennedy Energy Park, pictured above), the first project in the world to combine wind, solar and battery storage, and there have been plans for a gigawatt-scale “Big Kennedy” project that is also dependent on the Copperstring link.

Spanish renewable energy company Iberdrola also has the gigawatt scale Mt James wind project in the same area that it is also seeking to develop. WestWind also has a large wind project in the area.

McDonald says the wind resource around Hughenden is “spectacular” and diurnal (meaning mostly in the evening). “It is Queensland’s version offshore wind, but onshore,” he told Renew Economy.

He said the project will be based on flat land mostly used for cattle grazing and across around nine landowners. It is to the south of the Kennedy project.

“The industry has known of Hughenden’s wind resource for a long time,” said Ben Larsson, the head of origination with REP.

“With Copperstring’s original vision now an emerging reality, we are looking forward to working closely with our landowner partners to create an asset that utilises this incredible wind resource.”

REP says it intends to work with “key stakeholders” to ensure the Bogunda wind project has a strong social licence within the community.

The Brisbane-based company is Australian owned and has a portfolio of 10 gigawatts of wind, solar, battery and pumped hydro projects in development, including the 500 MW Wambo wind farm, the Ulinda Park battery (in conjunction with Akaysha Energy) and the Hopeland solar project (in conjunction with Pacific Partnerships).

Other projects include the 750 MW/16 hour Capricornia pumped hydro project that it is seeking to develop near Mackay in conjunction with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and the Queensland government owned, CS Energy, the 800 MW Proserpine wind farm, and the 500 MW Wandoan wind farm.