Wambo wind farm near Dalby assessed before construction begins

The 80+ turbine wind farm located near Dalby is gearing up for construction, with assessments undertaken due to its proximity to regional airports.

CONSTRUCTION SOON: More details have been revealed about the multi-million dollar construction of a renewable energy project in the Western Downs. Picture: Emily Bradfield

More details have been revealed about the multimillion-dollar construction of the Wambo Wind farm located near Dalby.

The 13,000 hectare project was conceived and explored by Renewable Energy Partners (REP) in 2018, when a number of landowners near Jandowae were secured to participate in the project in 2019.

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Cubico Sustainable Development and REP will co-develop the project, with the intent that Cubico would be the long term owner and operator of the wind farm.

It can now be revealed that an extensive aviation risk assessment was undertaken by specialists in preparation of the construction phase.

In a statement released by Cubico through their latest newsletter, the assessment concluded that aviation risks were “very low” and could be managed by making aircraft operators aware of the location of the infrastructure.

“Three measures have been taken to achieve this, the wind monitoring mast on site has been marked, including with alternating bands of red and white paint on the top half,” the statement said.

“The approach procedures at the Kingaroy airport are being updated by Airservices Australia to increase the minimum altitude over the project area.

“Aviation Projects met with local light aircraft operators in Diamondy to continue consultation and discuss their operations.”

In addition to this, the exact final locations of the wind turbines and their elevations will be provided to aviations authorities for inclusion in aviation charts.

The renewable energy organisations planned to use local companies and people where possible, and will endeavour to initiative a study with the Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise (TBSE) organisation to review the goods and services needed for the construction and operation of the farm.

The state government approved the wind farm on October 26 2020, and is expected to contain more than 80 turbines.

Stage one is set to begin at the end of 2021, and aims to be completed by 2023, with an operational period of 30 years.

The construction of stage one of the wind farm is expected to create about 200 jobs, and provide a further 20 jobs during the operational phase.

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Originally published as Wambo wind farm near Dalby assessed before construction begins