Macintyre wind precinct in Queensland to be doubled to 2 GW

ACCIONA Energía has announced development of the Herries Range Wind Farm (1000 MW), an expansion of the MacIntyre Wind Precinct that will double its capacity to 2000 MW. The MacIntyre Precinct is already the largest wind project in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere.

The announcement was made during a visit to the Port of Brisbane by Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk to inspect wind turbine components awaiting transport to the MacIntyre Wind Precinct 60 km west of Warwick. The MacIntyre Precinct (1023 MW), already under construction, will be equipped with 180 5.7 MW turbines.

“Today we’re proud to announce that we have commenced development activities for the Herries Range Wind Farm to add an additional thousand megawatts of renewable energy to Queensland’s energy mix,” said ACCIONA Energía’s Managing Director in Australia, Brett Wickham. “With this project we expect to dramatically accelerate the decarbonisation of Queensland’s electricity grid.

“Our goal is to roll from construction of MacIntyre straight into the neighbouring Herries Range. This means that workers can move from one large-scale project to the next whilst staying in the same area,” he said. “In total, the MacIntyre Precinct will reach a capacity of 2 GW, representing an overall investment of more than $4 billion and enough clean energy to supply the equivalent of 1.4 million homes per year.”

The MacIntyre Wind Precinct currently consists of two wind farms: MacIntyre (923 MW), owned by ACCIONA Energía (70%), and Ark Energy (30%), and government-owned energy company CleanCo’s proposed Karara Wind Farm.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the announcement showed that Queensland is a front runner in attracting international investment in the global energy transformation.

“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,” she said. “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.”

Image: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczu at the Port of Brisbane.