The Kondinin project will be powered by 46 turbines and nearly 50MW of solar panels and a battery storage facility. Lacour Energy, the owner of the project, is now aiming to take the final investment decision this year. Once the decision is taken, construction of the project, which is estimated A$250m ($181m) investment, will begin later this year.
The project will be located on a piece of land of five farming families, where the wind turbines will be installed on higher ground to the east and the solar farm will be located near the Kondinin – Narembeen Road.
Lacour Energy Director Mark Rayner said: “Now that the development approval milestone is complete, Lacour Energy is pleased to announce it has partnered with Goldwind to deliver the wind and solar project. Lacour Energy are aiming to complete the final investment decision for the project in 2019.
“The appointment of Goldwind Australia is a significant step forward for the wind farm. Goldwind will supply up to 46 Goldwind wind turbines and manage the construction works.
“The Kondinin project location ticks all the boxes to be one of the lowest cost projects in Western Australia. There is a strong wind resource located on the Western Power network with plenty of ability to connect the project via an existing substation.”
Lacour Energy stated on its website that the construction of the entire project could take between 18 and 24 months. During the construction phase, the project could generate nearly 150 temporary jobs.
Once the project begins operations, it will generate enough clean electricity to power 100,000 Western Australian homes annually, which is equivalent of supplying 3% of Western Australia’s electricity, while avoiding nearly 360,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions annually.
Goldwind Australia managing director John Titchen said: “A number of new wind farms are expected to be built in Western Australia over coming years as a result of the progressive reforms of the Western Australian Government and the Western Power Interim Access solution currently being rolled out.”
