Spanish energy company Acciona Energía has started the development of the 1GW Herries Range wind farm in Australia, which will entail an investment of A$2bn ($1.34bn).
The new onshore wind farm is an expansion of the 1.02GW MacIntyre wind farm precinct located South-West of Warwick in Queensland.
Currently under construction, the MacIntyre wind farm precinct will have an expanded capacity of over 2GW with the addition of the Herries Range wind farm.
Acciona Energía Australia managing director Brett Wickham said: “With this project we expect to dramatically accelerate the decarbonization of Queensland’s electricity grid.
“Our goal is to roll from construction of MacIntyre straight into the neighboring Herries Range. This means that workers can move from one large scale project to the next whilst staying in the same area.”
The MacIntyre precinct includes two wind farms, the proposed 102.6MW Karara wind farm, and the 923MW MacIntyre wind farm.
The MacIntyre wind farm is owned by Acciona Energía with a 70% stake and Ark Energy, which holds the remaining interest of 30%. On the other hand, the Karara wind farm is owned by government-owned energy company CleanCo.
According to Acciona, the parent company of Acciona Energía, the MacIntyre wind power complex involves an overall investment of over A$4bn ($2.7bn). It is expected to generate clean energy, which will be sufficient to power up to 1.4 million households per year.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said: “Our Queensland Energy and Jobs Plan is all about bringing more cheaper, cleaner energy into the system, while building the Queensland economy and that’s exactly that this deal does.
“Acciona Energia are one of the world’s leading developers of renewable energy projects and this additional $2 billion commitment is a strong endorsement that Queensland is a renewable energy superpower.”
The MacIntyre wind farm precinct, which is expected to be the largest wind project in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, broke ground in June 2022.
