The mammoth Stockyard Hill Wind Farm in the Pyrenees Shire finally has a buyer, with Chinese company Goldwind Global set to take control of the project for $110 million.
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Documents for the sale have now been lodged with the Australian Stock Exchange between Goldwind and the current owners, Origin Energy.
The sale comes with a purchaser agreement which will see Origin purchase of the energy generated by the wind farm until at least 2030, the largest power purchasing agreement of its kind in Australia.
While a planning amendment is still before the state government, Goldwind intends on having the wind farm operational by 2019.
When completed the project will comprise of 149 turbines, which will generate 530 megawatts of power, making it the largest operational wind farm in the southern hemisphere.
In a statement Origin Energy chief executive Frank Calabria said "today's announcement is important as it indicates just how fast the transition is occurring in Australia’s energy market. Not only is renewable energy being rolled out rapidly, the costs have fallen at a very fast rate.”
Pyrenees Shire mayor Ron Eason said council was pleased to see progress on the project which was first given the green light by the state government back in 2011.
“We know the sort of problems we’ve had with rate capping so it’s always really nice to hear there’s something coming which will put back into the shire,” Cr Eason said. “Projects like that have an ongoing benefit but in the construction phase there’s lots of benefit, it’s a really good project for the Pyrenees and surrounding shires.”
The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning is currently preparing a report for Planning Minister Richard Wynne in regards to the proposed amendments, which have requested a decrease of eight turbines but an increase in tip height from 132 metres to 180 metres.
The project is expected to generate 300 jobs during the construction phase.
The deal follows a number of major announcements in the renewable energy sector throughout the Central Highlands region.
In March the state government approved amendments to the Lal Lal Wind Farm development, while in February renewable energy company WestWind put forward a proposal for a potential 240-turbine farm in Rokewood.