Twiggy Forrest’s Squadron hits pause on New England wind plans as it works through “project issues”

The 426 megawatt (MW) Booralong wind project near Armidale in the New England region of New South Wales is on hold as owner Squadron Energy takes a deeper look at it.

The Squadron Energy project is about 15km north-west of Armidale inside the New England renewable energy zone (REZ), and nudges up against Origin Energy’s even bigger Northern Tablelands wind project to the west.

But a statement from Squadron says it’s “currently reviewing” the wind project “as we work through some project issues.” 

“At this stage, no final decisions have been made regarding the project’s next steps. We will provide updates as further information becomes available,” the company said in a statement sent to Renew Economy.

Squadron, owned by iron ore billionaire and green energy evangelist Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest, has been rationalising other parts of its portfolio recently. 

Last week, it revealed the sale of its 75 per cent stake in Windlab, to Federation Asset Management, another investor founded by Macquarie Group alumni. 

As part of the deal, Squadron and Windlab will continue working on the 1.4 gigawatt (GW) Bungaban wind and 500 MW Bungaban solar projects, and associated battery storage, in Queensland via a 50/50 joint venture.

Earlier this year, Squadron withdrew the Jeremiah wind and battery projects, located between Yass and Gundagai, from the NSW planning process.

“Following an internal review of the project, Squadron Energy has determined that it is unable to progress the [Jeremiah] Environmental Impact Statement within the timeframe provided,” the company said in a letter to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure in April.

Unlike the Boorolong project, the Jeremiah wind and battery duo were close to two other big Squadron projects, Bookham and Saddletop, which have a combined output of more than 1.2 GW.

The decision to pause work at Boorolong, which is at the earliest stages of feasibility and community planning, is disappointing for some landowners who are keen for the project to go ahead. 

One, who did not want to be named to avoid attracting negative attention in the town, said they are frustrated by the prolonged lack of action, around Boorolong and renewables generally.

“I want this thing to go ahead because I don’t have 20 years to hang on. I think we really need to get things happening. Climate change is real, we’re in the middle of a horrible drought, and will this be as bad as the 2019 one? I don’t know,” the Armidale local told Renew Economy.

“We want electricity, we want heating and it can’t come without some sort of sacrifice, some sort of price.”

Squadron Energy is currently building the 414 MW Uungula wind project in the central west of NSW, the only wind farm under construction in the state.

If you would like to join more than 29,000 others and get the latest clean energy news delivered straight to your inbox, for free, please click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

If you wish to support independent media, and accurate information, please consider making a one off donation or becoming a regular supporter of Renew Economy. Please click here. Your support is invaluable.