Lal Lal’s wind farm project has been sold to investment group Macquarie Capital.
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WestWind Energy announced the sale of the project at Yendon and Elaine on Wednesday night.
State Planning Minister Richard Wynne approved changes to the planning permit for the project following a panel hearing late last year.
WestWind Energy managing director Tobias Geiger said the sale marked a significant step forward in the Lal Lal Wind Farm’s development.
“The sale marks a major milestone for the Lal Lal Wind Farm and the local community, with ongoing preparations taking place to commence construction activities, which will bring economic benefits to the region,’’ he said.
The project was originally proposed in April 2009.
Turbines were reduced from 64 to 60 under the amendment approved by Mr Wynne, which also changed the tip height from 130 metres to 161 metres.
The project faced opposition from a group of residents who said the turbines were located too close to homes
Mr Geiger said it had been heartening to see the state government strengthen its renewable energy target.
“It has been very pleasing to see a renewed commitment toward renewable energy from the Victorian government since the last state election,” he said.
“Because of this we have received strong interest from investors looking for projects in Victoria.
“We are proud of the Lal Lal Wind Farm development and we look forward to seeing it come to fruition.
“It is the culmination of a decade’s hard work and we believe it will go a long way in helping Victoria reach its 25 per cent renewable energy target by 2020.
“We hope that as confidence returns to Australia’s renewable energy sector that we will continue to see more projects like the Lal Lal Wind Farm being built.”
The wind farm is expected to generate almost 600,000 megawatt hours of electricity a year, which is enough to power 111,000 homes.
The development is expected to cost more than $400 million and will employ 192 people during the construction phase and a further 18 people following completion.