First turbine installed at Squadron Energy’s Clarke Creek Wind Farm

The first huge turbine at a $3 billion wind farm which will be able to power 330,000 homes has been put in place after being brought in by ship and transported at night under police escort. Watch it’s incredible journey from the air.

A wind farm in Central Queensland has achieved a major milestone, with the first turbine successfully installed.

The turbine installed at the $3 billion Clarke Creek Wind Farm is 207 metres tall and has three 76.2 metre blades.

It involved the installation of 13 components and had a capacity of 4.5MW.

First turbine installed at Clarke Creek Wind Farm. Picture: Contributed

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at the wind farm site, 150km northwest of Rockhampton, in July last year to ceremoniously launch construction of the energy project.

The project, owned by Squadron Energy, spans across 76,300 hectares of eight private landholdings and would be the largest grid-connected renewable energy project in Australia.

Stage one included 100 wind turbines that would provide around 450MW of green energy.

Once completed, it would produce enough electricity to power 330,000 homes.

First turbine installed at Clarke Creek Wind Farm. Picture: Contributed

Squadron Energy CEO Jason Willoughby said they were excited to have reached this important milestone in the development of the project.

“This turbine represents the first major step in our efforts to reduce power prices for businesses and households in Queensland as we continue to replace ageing coal-fired power stations with clean renewable energy,” he said.

“Seeing the first turbine of the project fully installed is a really proud moment for our team at Squadron Energy and all the crews involved.

First turbine installed at Clarke Creek Wind Farm. Picture: Contributed

“We currently have around 170 workers on site at any one time and our oversize over mass deliveries from Gladstone Port are now in place seven nights a week as activity ramps up on site.”

Construction of the first stage of the wind farm is said to have created 350 jobs, with the project injecting $110m into the region’s economy.

The second stage of the wind farm included 564MW of capacity and a battery energy storage facility in addition to a planned 400MW Clarke Creek Solar Farm.