South Australia’s oldest wind farm signs up for new long term power deal

Electricity retailer Zen Energy says it has signed 10-year off take deals with two Australian wind farms, including the oldest major wind facility in South Australia, as it boosts its renewable energy supplies.

ZEN Energy – which stands for Zero Emissions Now – bills itself as Australia’s first 1.5°C electricity retailer and the first to have a near-term science-based emissions reduction target in line with limiting global warming to 1.5°C.

The new 10-year offtake agreement will see ZEN Energy take 20.6 per cent of the generation and large-scale generation certificates (LGCs) from the 226.8MW Collector Wind Farm in New South Wales, which will deliver around 110GWh each year.

Zen Energy will also take 100% of the generation and LGCs from the 33MW Starfish Hill Wind Farm at Cape Jervis, South Australia – the first major wind farm built in the state back in 2003 – and consists of 22 wind turbines.

That contract will deliver around 90GWh each year. The wind farm will be 31 years old by the time the contract runs out.

Both wind farms are owned and operated by Ratch-Australia, the local subsidiary of Thailand’s Ratch Group, which owns a number of renewable energy projects across Australia, including wind, solar, and battery storage. Ratch-Australia also owns and operates two gas-fired power plants.

“Bilateral power offtake agreements between retailers such as Zen and renewable project owners like Ratch-Australia are creating significant and growing demand for utility-scale wind, as well as solar, energy in Australia,” said Anthony Garnaut, the CEO of Zen Energy.

The Collector wind farm is Ratch’s largest in Australia to date, consisting of 54 wind turbines and generating 528GWh each year, the equivalent generation necessary for 80,000 NSW homes and enough to offset close to 320,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

The smaller 33MW Starfish Hill Wind Farm was the first major wind farm built in South Australia back in 2003 and consists of 22 wind turbines.

“There is a strong synergy between Ratch-Australia and ZEN and we look forward to working together in the long term,” said Sahachthorn Putthong, CEO of Ratch-Australia.

“We have shared aims to continue to grow as leading value-orientated energy companies in Australia, similar cultures of caring for the communities in which we operate and commitment to driving emissions reduction.”