Victoria approves plan for wind farm with 219 turbines — ABC News Australia
The authorities of the Australian state of Victoria have granted the final state-level approval required for the Warracknabeal Energy Park project, a wind farm with 219 turbines in the west of the state. The project must now undergo a final review by the federal environment minister, ABC News reports.
Project scale
Victoria's Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny approved the Warracknabeal Energy Park five months after the environmental impact statement was endorsed. WestWind Energy plans to locate the turbines across 26,000 hectares of farmland west of Warracknabeal and north of Horsham — more than 300 kilometres northwest of Melbourne.
The project also provides for the installation of two 300-megawatt energy storage systems. According to the developer's estimate, the energy park will have 1.5 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity, enough to supply 1.2 million households. If completed, it will become the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere, surpassing the Golden Plains Wind Farm near Geelong, which has 215 turbines and a capacity of 1.33 gigawatts.
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Community feedback
During the environmental impact assessment process, which began in 2024, authorities received 70 submissions from the community. Thirty of them generally assessed the social impact, jobs, community development, sustainability and population growth positively. A similar number of participants raised concerns about the appearance of the landscape, pressure on housing and worker accommodation, as well as potential impacts on flora and fauna.
The project is expected to create about 950 jobs during the construction phase. Farmer Craig Henderson, on whose land the turbines are planned to be installed, called the wind farm positive for Warracknabeal, whose population has been declining over recent decades. He also noted that the town could receive long-term benefits from housing and other infrastructure for workers.
