News

$240m wind farm to be built on Queensland’s Banana Range

A US$240m wind farm, located on the Banana Range, southwest of the city of Gladstone, has been approved by the government of Queensland.

The 50-turbine facility will generate 180MW of electricity, enough to power 120,000 homes.

When operational, it will increase the capacity of wind generation in Queensland to 2,2GW, which could power over a million homes.

Orange Creek Energy, a subsidiary of Brisbane’s Lacour Energy, will carry out the work on the project.

Cameron Dick, Australia’s minister for planning, said: "The government strongly supports investment in regional projects and the Banana Range wind farm, located 20km west of Biloela, will provide a huge boost for the local economy.

"Besides the great environmental benefits for Queensland, investment in projects such as this also creates a flow-on economic effect for local businesses and assists in diversifying the town’s economy."

James Townsend, Lacour Energy’s director, said: "The onsite powerline and excellent wind resource mean that the project can supply competitively priced electricity.

"The area is known for its strong night time winds which is when the wind farm will produce the most energy, and this means the project is very complementary to the daytime energy from rooftop solar and the solar farms that have recently been built in Queensland."

Construction on the project will begin in 2020 and is due to be completed in 2022.

Image: A wind farm (Dreamstime/Photovs)

Story for GCR? Get in touch via email: [email protected]

Latest articles in News