Victoria can now lay claim to hosting the biggest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, with the official opening of the Macarthur Wind Farm in the Shire of Moyne, west of Melbourne.
Premier Dennis Napthine joined venture partners AGL Energy Limited (AGL) and Meridian Energy (Meridian), along with representatives from project developer Vestas in a formal ceremony opening the $1 billion wind farm.
Featuring 140 Vestas V112-3.0 MW wind turbines and capable of supplying electricity to 220,000 homes, the Macarthur Wind Farm hosts 420 megawatts of wind power capacity and will offset more than 1.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year – equivalent to removing 420,000 cars from Victorian roads.
Since the project was first commissioned in 2012, it has proved a boon for local employment, with many of the wind towers at the facility constructed locally in Portland by Keppel Prince Engineering.
According AGL CEO Michael Fraser, the entire renewable energy sector in Australia has benefited from the construction.
“We are proud that it not only delivers clean, renewable energy, but has been able to generate significant economic benefits for the region during development and construction. This includes approximately 875 jobs in the region, 2,490 in Victoria, and 2,782 in Australia.”
Mr Fraser said 20 full-time operational staff will be employed at the wind farm for the next 25 years.
Spanish wind energy company Vestas brought the Macarthur Wind Farm online three months ahead of schedule. The company is now responsible for installing over half of Australia’s wind energy capacity.
Vestas CEO, Ditlev Engel, said Australia’s Renewable Energy Target, under which a minimum 20 per cent of electricity generation must come from from renewable sources by 2020, would help ensure future large-scale investment in clean energy jobs.
“Australia is now enjoying the benefits of large-scale clean energy investment and jobs, thanks to its Renewable Energy Target. Bipartisan support for this policy is a crucial element in creating the long-term business certainty to make billion dollar investments like the Macarthur project a reality.”
