The NSW Government has approved one of the biggest wind farm projects in Australia for the Upper Hunter region in a move that will deliver 800 new jobs.
The $642 million Liverpool Range Wind Farm will generate enough electricity to power nearly 500,000 homes.
Situated east of Coolah and northwest of Cassilis, the development will feature 272 turbines and four substations.
It will take three years to build the wind farm that will span 36 kilometres from north to south and 20 kilometres east to west. Once complete, it will be one of the largest wind farms in Australia.
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NSW minister for planning and housing Anthony Roberts said the State Significant Development would pour large amounts of money back into the Upper Hunter community.
“It will also offer community funding contributions of up to $800,000 a year through a voluntary planning agreement with Warrumbungle and Upper Hunter Shire Councils,” Roberts said.
The wind farm was first proposed by renewable energy company Epuron in 2011, though it raised community concerns about the number and location of the turbines.
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Revisions have seen the total number of turbines reduced by 16, increasing setbacks of turbines from property boundaries, changing the alignment of the electricity transmission line to reduce clearing of native vegetation, and reducing the number of proposed substations from six to four.
Other conditions for the approval include strict noise criteria, visual screening for nearby residents, and biodiversity offsets to compensate for clearing of native vegetation.
Epuron will also be upgrading 143km of regional and local roads.
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Epuron said in a statement, “Liverpool Range Wind Farm will be a major part of the electricity transition in NSW as older coal-fired power stations are retired.
“It will materially reduce the State’s greenhouse gas emissions as well as save millions of litres of water currently used in coal-fired power stations.”
Member for Barwon, Kevin Humphries, said the wind farm supports NSW’s plan to reduce greenhouse gases.
“This project is a boon for the state’s west, delivering 800 jobs on a project that will take three years to complete,” Humphries said.
Epuron developed the $80 million 30MW Cullerin Range wind farm, near Goulburn in southern NSW, which was completed in 2009 and since sold to Origin Energy.
