Companies behind five Victorian wind farms, with a combined total of around 200 turbines, have told the Victorian Government they have begun construction this month, after being given final approval on their development plans since January.
These companies needed to commence “construction” of their projects in order to keep their existing planning approval valid. This will enable them to avoid the new, more restrictive requirement to obtain permission from any landholder within 2 kilometres of a turbine. However it is highly unusual for such projects to commence construction when a power purchase agreement is not in place.
The five wind farms that are said to be under construction are:
- Hawkesdale (developed by Union Fenosa) – 31 turbines approved
- Ryan Corner (developed by Union Fenosa) – 68 turbines
- Mount Gellibrand (developed by Acciona) – 68 turbines
- Woolsthorpe (developed by Wind Farm Developments) – 20 turbines
- Salt Creek (developed by NewEn) – 15 turbines
“The wind energy facilities will have a combined capacity of over 400MW, and represents more than $400 million of investment, and hundreds of construction jobs in Victoria’s south west region,” the state government said in a statement.
