Jackie Trad
Queenslanders now own their first new renewable energy generation in 20 years.
Publicly owned generator CleanCo is building a wind farm near Warwick as part of a precinct supplying up to nearly 700,000 homes and a growing number of electric vehicles (EVs).
Works are expected to start later this year, construction scheduled to run from mid-2021 to 2024, with the precinct generating its first power from mid-2022.
CleanCo’s publicly owned wind farm will be part of the 1026MW MacIntyre Wind Farm Precinct on the Southern Downs, deputy premier and treasurer Jackie Trad says.
“For the next few months, the entire focus of the Queensland Government is on protecting Queenslanders’ health, jobs and businesses,” she says.
“But when we move into the recovery phase, we need shovel-ready projects that will support more jobs in more industries, especially in regional Queensland.
“This is what CleanCo is all about – building, owning and operating a wind farm of 18 turbines with the capacity to generate up to 100MW of new renewable energy,” Trad adds.
CleanCo will also buy another 400MW of new renewable energy from Acciona.
“CleanCo’s involvement in the MacIntyre Precinct has nearly doubled the size and capacity of the wind farm, with Queenslanders set to benefit from the addition of more than one gigawatt of new renewable energy to our electricity network—the equivalent to powering almost 700,000 homes,” Trad adds.
Energy minister Dr Anthony Lynham says the project will mean jobs and business opportunities across the Southern Downs and Darling Downs.
“As one of the largest onshore wind farms in the southern hemisphere, the MacIntyre Precinct will have far reaching and long lasting social and economic benefits locally, and for the whole state,” he says.
“The local spend on the Downs is forecast to be more than $500 million during construction.”
The 1026MW wind farm project is expected to be progressively connected to the statewide energy grid from 2022, with 64km of new powerlines connecting the wind farm to Queensland’s electricity network at Millmerran.
Acciona Australia Energy managing director Brett Wickham says a Community Enhancement Program will be established to deliver added value to the local community.
“The project is scheduled to begin construction in mid-2021, with a gradual start-up in phases to ensure connection to the grid with full technical guarantees for the state’s electricity system,” he says.
“The entire MacIntyre complex will be operational in 2024.”
