THE state’s wind farm industry is beginning to recover from the investment freeze caused by the lengthy review of Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET), but it could be years before approved projects are in operation.
Construction on the state’s biggest wind farm, White Rock Wind Farm near Glen Innes, will begin at the end of the month following Chinese investment which has been critical for the project.
The wind farm is being built by Goldwind Australia, a wholly-owned Chinese subsidiary, and China Energy Conservation and Environmental Protection Wind Power Corporation (CECWPC). CECWPC has purchased a 75 per cent interest in the $400 million White Rock development, allowing construction to begin.
Seventy 2.5-megawatt wind turbines will be constructed on 14 properties, creating enough energy to power 75,000 homes.
The project will create 200 jobs during construction and 10 to 15 ongoing jobs in operation. It’s one of three approved wind farms in the Glen Innes region, but the only one with a clear timeline for construction.
Goldwind managing director John Titchen said the New England was a promising site for wind farm development.
“It’s got great wind, it’s remote to cities and close to transmission,” he said.
“We’re also looking at developing solar energy with this location as well because we’ve already got the connection to the grid. We think a combination of wind and solar power has really great potential.”
Clean Energy Council policy manager Alicia Webb said there hadn’t been a flurry of activity since the RET was reduced from 41,000 gigawatt hours to 33,000GWh in June last year. She said many projects were still looking for financial backing.
“We do have long list of wind farms to build to meet the energy requirements but it’s taken time for confidence to return to the sector.
“The wind farm industry has a really bright future and this means Australia is keeping pace with the rest of the world. Many countries are transitioning their systems away from fossil fuels and towards renewable electricity.”
