Wind farm not yet approved: Acciona

The proposed turbines would have a "maximum wing-tip height" of 285 metres.

A massive wind farm proposed to cover 40,000 hectares to the west of the Southern Downs Regional Council boundary but taking in a section of the SDRC area is yet to be approved by the State Government.

The ‘MacIntyre Wind Farm’ proposal by renewable energy company Acciona is not subject to council approval and will instead be assessed by the Queensland Government’s State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA), an arm of the Queensland Department of State Development and Queensland Treasury.

Reports this week in other local media suggested the project has been approved but a spokeswoman for Acciona this week told the Free Times the wind farm application is still with SARA.

Acciona said in early 2020 a series of public consultation meetings would be held with affected communities but attributed a cessation of consultation to COVID-19. The spokeswoman this week said more engagement with residents of both the Southern Downs Regional Council and the Goondiwindi Regional Council is planned, but was not able to provide specific details.

Most of the project’s 120 turbines – with a “maximum wing-tip height” of 285 metres – would be located on land leased by Acciona in the Goondiwindi region but a section of the wind farm will come over the border into the SDRC region in the Goldfields/Pike Creek district.

The Queensland Government’s publicly-owned CleanCo announced in late March it will partner with Acciona on the site.

Now-former Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad announced on March 26 this year that a CleanCo component involving 18 wind turbines would form part of the Acciona project.

Those turbines will the located on the Goondiwindi side of the council boundary.

“On behalf of Queenslanders, CleanCo will also buy another 400 megawatts of new renewable energy from Acciona,” Ms Trad said at the time.

“CleanCo’s involvement in the MacIntyre Precinct has nearly doubled the size and capacity of the wind farm, with Queenslanders set to benefit from the addition of more than one gigawatt of new renewable energy to our electricity network — the equivalent to powering almost 700,000 homes.”

Minister for Energy Dr Anthony Lynham has said the project would mean “jobs and business opportunities across the Southern Downs and Darling Downs”.

“As one of the largest onshore wind farms in the southern hemisphere, the MacIntyre Precinct will have far reaching and long lasting social and economic benefits locally, and for the whole state,” Dr Lynham said in March.

“The local spend on the Downs is forecast to be more than $500 million during construction.

“That’s jobs and business flowing into the south west from later this year when early works start.”

Dr Lynham said the 1026 MW wind farm project was expected to be progressively connected to the statewide energy grid from 2022, with 64 km of new powerlines connecting the wind farm to Queensland’s electricity network at Millmerran.

“State-owned Powerlink has already commenced working on the connection of the project to the grid, which on its own will support up to 240 jobs,” Dr Lynham said.

Acciona Australia Energy Managing Director Brett Wickham said Acciona was “excited to be working with CleanCo to deliver one of the largest onshore wind farms in the southern hemisphere”.

“In addition to generating up to 400 jobs over its lifetime, a Community Enhancement Program will be established to deliver added value to the local community,” Mr Wickham said.

“The project is scheduled to begin construction in mid-2021, with a gradual start-up in phases to ensure connection to the grid with full technical guarantees for the state’s electricity system.

“The entire MacIntyre complex will be operational in 2024.”