ACCIONA Energía has announced development of the 1GW Herries Range Wind Farm, an expansion of the MacIntyre Wind Precinct that will double its capacity to 2GW. The MacIntyre Precinct is already the largest wind project in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.
The announcement was made during a visit to the Port of Brisbane by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, where the Premier and Cabinet Ministers inspected wind turbine components awaiting transport to the MacIntyre Wind Precinct 60km west of Warwick. The MacIntyre Precinct, already under construction, will be equipped with 180 5.7MW turbines.
Related article: Queensland smashes records with renewables investment
“Today we’re proud to announce that we have commenced development activities for the Herries Range Wind Farm to add an additional thousand megawatts of renewable energy to Queensland’s energy mix,” ACCIONA Energía Australia managing director Brett Wickham said.
“With this project we expect to dramatically accelerate the decarbonisation of Queensland’s electricity grid.
“Our goal is to roll from construction of MacIntyre straight into the neighboring Herries Range. This means that workers can move from one large scale project to the next whilst staying in the same area.
“In total, the MacIntyre Precinct would reach a capacity of 2GW, representing an overall investment of more than AUD$4 billion (€2.5 billion) and enough clean energy to supply the equivalent of 1.4 million homes per year.”
The MacIntyre Wind Precinct currently consists of two wind farms: MacIntyre (923MW), owned by ACCIONA Energía (70%) and Ark Energy (30%), and government-owned energy company CleanCo’s proposed Karara Wind Farm.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the announcement showed that Queensland is a front runner in attracting international investment in the global energy transformation.
Related article: ZEN Energy signs 10-year PPA with Acciona Energia
“Our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan is all about bringing more cheaper, cleaner energy into the system, while building the Queensland economy and that’s exactly that this deal does,” Palaszczuk said.
“ACCIONA Energia are one of the world’s leading developers of renewable energy projects and this additional $2 billion commitment is a strong endorsement that Queensland is a renewable energy superpower.”
