National environmental approval secured for billion dollar 800 MW Clarke Creek Wind Farm in Central Queensland

3 December 2018

Director of Lacour Energy, Mark Rayner, said State and National planning approvals have been secured for the Clarke Creek Wind Farm and it is now being prepared for construction to commence in 2019.

‘The project has now received Federal Government approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act). Earlier this year, the wind farm project received Queensland Government planning approval for up to 195 wind turbines and approval was earlier secured for a 400 MW solar farm and a large utility scale battery.

‘The combination of wind, solar and battery represents a very large-scale integrated renewables power station located at one of the strongest locations of the Queensland power system – no grid extension is required. Importantly, the wind resource is night biased, complementing daytime solar production.

‘The project economies of scale drive a competitive cost of electricity, support investment and economic development in regional Queensland and will make a significant contribution to the Queensland Renewable Energy Target.’ said Mark.

Lacour Energy has partnered with Goldwind to deliver the Clarke Creek Integrated Wind, Solar and Battery Power Station project. With a generation capacity of 800 MW, the wind farm component of the project is set to be the biggest wind farm in Australia. Goldwind will supply up to 195 wind turbines to the project and manage construction works.

Goldwind Australia Managing Director, John Titchen, said Goldwind manages all its projects with a focus on local business participation and local employment.

‘We are now seeking expressions of interest for the Balance of Plant tender process for the full civil and electrical works for the wind farm and we will shortly launch the Clarke Creek Local Business Participation Program.

‘This Program will be a key initiative to identify capability and capacity in the local community and maximise opportunities for local subcontractors and suppliers to participate in the project. This program has proven successful for projects currently under construction in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania.

‘The Lacour Energy team have done excellent work identifying and developing this project. Wind conditions have been measured and shown to match very well with Goldwind’s latest advanced wind turbine technology. As is expected in this region, the solar resource has also proven to be very high quality.’ commented John.

The project, located 150km Northwest of Rockhampton, will have a construction cost totalling over $1.5 billion, with up to 350 jobs expected on site during construction of the wind farm and up to 25 permanent staff during operations.

Once operational, the wind farm production will be enough to power around 590,000 Queensland homes, supplying around 4% of Queensland’s electricity, and making a large contribution to the achievement of the Queensland Renewable Energy Target.