Construction has officially begun on the Wambo Wind Farm which is expected to generate 252MW of energy for the Queensland region.
The farm, and its grid connection, a joint project between Cubico Sustainable Investments and Stanwell Corporation, is anticipated to create around 450 jobs in construction with clean energy set to protect jobs in Queensland’s biggest industries, including mining, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Powerlink CEO, Paul Simshauser, said Powerlink, Stanwell and Cubico have now finalised a Connection and Access Agreement, which formalises Powerlink’s grid connection works and Wambo Wind Farm’s access to the transmission network.
“We are currently progressing with early works for the project and later this year will focus on connecting the wind farm to the Queensland SuperGrid as we start constructing 50km of new 275kV transmission line between our existing Halys Substation near Kingaroy, and a new substation to be built at the wind farm site,” Mr Simshauser said.”
The Wambo Wind Farm, which will soon vaunt some of the largest onshore wind turbines in the nation, at 247m,is backed by a $192.5 million investment from the State Government’s Renewable Energy and Hydrogen Jobs Fund for Stanwell’s 50 per cent share in the project.
The Queensland Minister for Energy, Renewables and Hydrogen, Mick de Brenni, was joined by officials from Cubico and Stanwell to officially launch the project as part of the Queensland Government’s Energy and Jobs Plan.
“Today marks another important step forward to Queensland’s renewable energy future – starting construction of the Wambo Wind Farm, and propelling us closer to our renewable energy target of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030, and 80 per cent renewable energy by 2035,” Mr de Brenni said.
Mr de Brenni said the Wambo Wind Farm is a prime example of the State Government partnering with the private sector to deliver clean energy to Queenslanders, while retaining control of the energy system.
“The power generated by the 42 wind turbines northwest of Dalby will be sent to the Queensland SuperGrid in 2025, to be connected to the state’s next pumped hydro at Borumba, west of the Sunshine Coast in 2032.”
The milestone comes less than a week after the government announced a further half a billion dollars of investment to propel the development of large-scale solar and wind projects, and its commitment to maintain a majority share in energy generation.
Wambo Wind Farm is being delivered by two publicly owned Queensland energy companies, Powerlink Queensland for grid connection works, and Stanwell Corporation as a joint venture partnership with Cubico Sustainable Investments.
Cubico Head of Australia, David Smith, said Cubico has been developing Wambo Wind Farm with Renewable Energy Partners since 2019, and is incredibly excited to have moved into construction for stage one of the project.
“This is a real landmark in Queensland’s transition from coal to renewables and we’ve been very pleased to partner with the Queensland Government, Stanwell and Powerlink, which all share in our commitment to decarbonise Australia,” Mr Smith said.
“Importantly, the project will play a significant role in supporting the Queensland Government’s Energy and Jobs Plan, and we are proud to be at the forefront of providing a transition to renewables for energy workers.”
Stanwell CEO, Michael O’Rourke said the 42 turbine wind farm forms part of Stanwell’s rapidly accelerating pipeline of renewable energy projects set to total 9-10GW of clean energy capacity by 2035.
“Our growing pipeline means that we can expand our renewable offerings for our commercial and industrial customers and support the State Government’s target of 80 per cent renewable energy by 2035,” Mr O’Rourke said.
