Wind giant’s proposal for up to 35 turbines near coal generator joins EPBC queue

Danish wind energy giant Vestas has added a new project proposal to its growing Australian pipeline, an up to 252 megawatt wind farm proposed near the Millmerran coal fired generator in the Toowoomba Region of Queensland.

The up to $700 million project called Captains Mountain joined the queue for federal environmental assessment this week, and proposes to install up to 35 wind turbines and connect them to the existing transmission network near the Millmerran coal plant.

According to the referral documents, the project – proposed by a wholly owned subsidiary of Vestas – will be sited on land predominantly used for cattle grazing, animal husbandry and related rural activities.

On the project website, Vestas says it expects the wind farm to be deemed a controlled action, meaning it will require a detailed environmental assessment under the EPBC Act.

“We expect there will be another opportunity for public comment later in the process once more detailed documentation is published,” a statement says.

“Our EPBC Act referral is now open for public viewing and comment. We invite stakeholders and community members to review the submission and provide feedback via the following link: Open for comments · EPBC Act Public Portal.”

Vestas currently has 7 gigawatts (GW) of wind farms under service in Australia and has eight projects currently under development, including the up to 730 MW Winterbourne wind farm – a Barnaby Joyce favourite being proposed for NSW and developed with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners.

*This article has been corrected to show that Winterbourne wind farm is under development. A previous version of the article mistakenly said the project was under construction.