First wind projects fired up in Australia

BayWa r.e. took its first steps into the Australian renewable energy market in 2017, starting with utility scale solar projects, then quickly turning its attention to onshore wind.

After acquiring local developer Future Energy and its project pipeline, we immediately moved forward with the development of two wind farms in the state of Victoria.

Located approximately 17km north-east of St. Arnaud and 10 kms south of Timboon, the sites were chosen for their undisturbed wind flow with strong consistent wind speeds, close proximity to the electrical grid, and large setbacks from nearby dwellings. 

Construction on each farm was carried out in three phases, beginning in 2018 with construction of the access tracks, fitting construction pads, and then laying the foundations and the underground cabling. 

With project sites amongst the windiest in the state of Victoria, specialised cranes with highly skilled operators were required to install the four wind turbines. And then finally, we commissioned, tested and connected the wind farm to the local electricity grid ready for the export of energy to begin.

Construction for each of the Timboon and Yawong wind farms was completed within six months, and together their capacity of 14.4MW will produce enough clean energy to power 9,000 Australian homes. 

Both were sold together with 15-year O&M contracts with Vestas in place, and PPAs secured to sell 100% of the power to Alinta Energy. 

BayWa r.e. continues to provide ongoing commercial and technical management of the wind farms through its team in Melbourne and its central control room for the APAC region, based in Bangkok. 

With two further wind farms expected to be fully operational by late 2020, these two farms are just the start of BayWa r.e’s  plans for wind energy in Australia.