Massive wind farm to power one in four capital city homes

A massive wind farm approved northwest of Brisbane could power almost a quarter of homes in the capital when fully operational.

A massive wind farm approved northwest of Brisbane could power almost a quarter of homes in the capital when fully operational.

The 436.5MW Tarong West Wind Farm in the South Burnett has been granted approval by Queensland’s State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA), with federal approval the final hurdle around its environmental impact plan.

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The view from the top at Queensland’s Dulacca Wind Farm.

The new project is expected to have 97 turbines and produce electricity for almost double the number of people Dulacca Wind Farm was expected to cater for when it opened.

Queensland Premier Steven Miles expected around 230,000 homes to be powered by the wind farm’s 97 turbines when it’s fully operational – part of a plan to see the state running on 70 per cent renewable energy by 2032.

The project is backed by $776.1m from the Queensland government’s Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund, with cost assessments taking into account accommodation creation for the construction phase to prevent negative impacts on housing supply in the Greater Kingaroy area.

The wind farm project was also expected to take into account protection measures for up to 13.47ha of koala habitat.

Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke, energy minister Mick de Brenni and Cubico's David Smith at the site of another project, the Wambo Wind Farm near Dalby. There are high hopes for the Tarong West Wind Farm.

A wind farm in Ravenshoe, Queensland.

Energy minister Mick de Brenni said about 200 jobs were expected in the construction phase, giving the region a financial boost.

Publicly owned Stanwell Corporation is handling the build along with global renewable energy developer RES, with construction now expected to begin early 2025. Previous estimates had construction kicking off at the end of 2024.

Stanwell CEO Michael O’Rourke said the wind farm was critical to decarbonising the existing portfolio and helping Queensland reach renewable energy targets.

“This development approval brings us one step closer to our aim of having 9 to 10GW of large-scale wind and solar capacity by 2035 and we are continuing to work with RES through the approval processes so we can bring this project to life.”

Federal approval is pending linked to environmental issues.

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Originally published as Massive wind farm to power one in four capital city homes