According to the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE), at the end of October 2009, there were nine major renewable energy projects in Australia at an advanced stage of development. Eight of these are wind power projects and comprise 84 per cent of the committed additions to renewable energy capacity.
During the six months to October 2009, four wind projects were added to the advanced list, being Crookwell 2 in New South Wales, Oaklands in Victoria and Waterloo and Lake Bonney stage 3 in South Australia.
The largest of these projects is the Roaring 40s’ 111 megawatt Waterloo wind farm in South Australia. The project has an estimated capital cost of $300 million
and is scheduled to commence operation in 2010. Also in South Australia, the Lake Bonney Stage 3 wind project will have a capacity of 39 megawatts when
completed.
The Union Fernosa Wind Australia’s Crookwell 2 project in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales will have an electricity generation capacity of 92 megawatts and a capital cost of $238 million.
In September 2009, AGL and Windlab Systems Australia began on the Oaklands wind farm project near Glenthompson. The wind farm will have a generation capacity of 63 megawatts when operational in 2011 and has an estimated capital cost of $200 million.
Four other major wind farms currently under construction are Clements Gap with a capacity of 57 megawatts, Hallet 2 (71 megawatts) and Hallet 4 (132 megawatts) located in South Australia and Musselroe (168 megawatts) located in Tasmania.
Solar farm electricity generation projects in Australia do not feature prominently in ABARE’s October report as these tend to be below the 30 megawatt threshold.
At the end of October 2009, there were 80 less advanced renewable energy projects according to ABARE. Seventy one of these projects are wind farms, accounting for around 90 per cent of the proposed addition to renewable energy capacity. The ABARE report states the significant number of proposed wind powered electricity projects in part reflects the Renewable Energy Target and the cost competitiveness of wind relative to other renewable energy technologies.
ABARE has been compiling its biannual list of major electricity generation projects since October 2008. The latest report can be viewed in full here. (PDF)
