Turbines and transmission towers up and concrete foundations poured at rare state-owned wind farm

The last of the concrete foundations have been poured for the 46 turbines that will make up the 285 megawatt Lotus Creek wind farm in central Queensland, in what has been described as a “huge few weeks of milestones” for the state government-owned project.

Andrew Wilson, the head of renewables and firming at Queensland utility CS Energy says the wind farm has started receiving turbine component deliveries and has completed “tower pre-installation” at the first two turbines.

“We’ve also poured the last of 46 foundations, delivered the 2x main transformers plus switch room and control room buildings, passed the halfway point of underground cabling, and erected the last of 30 transmission line towers,” said Wilson on LinkedIn on Monday.

CS Energy bought the $1.3 billion Lotus Creek wind farm in August 2024 from Danish giant Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, marking the first 100 per cent publicly owned wind farm to reach construction phase under the former Labor government’s Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan.

So far, the project has remained publicly owned under the current LNP government, although as Renew Economy reported over the weekend, this might not be the case for long.

CS Energy sold a half share in the under construction 228 MW Boulder Creek wind project to joint venture partner Aula Energy in a deal quietly announced on June 26, in the latest in a series of moves that has seen Queensland state-owned utilities withdraw from equity positions in key renewable projects.

And the AFR has reported that CS Energy is seeking investors in Lotus Creek.

Another state owned utility, Stanwell, in February announced its decision to sell its option over a half share in the 436 MW Tarong West wind project to Innergreen, a private investor that will now partner RES in its development. Stanwell still has an option to buy the output of Tarong West.

For now, however, Lotus Creek continues to make progress under CS Energy’s ownership.

“These milestone are a testament to the hard work and talents of a large and diverse team across our Principal Contractors and their subcontractors – incredibly proud to get to work with them on this project,” Wilson said.

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