All funds in place for initial phase of 1.3-GW Aussie wind project

Renewable energy enterprise TagEnergy said today it has achieved financial close on the 756-MW first stage of the 1,300-MW Golden Plains Wind Farm in Victoria, Australia, and will commence construction early in 2023.

The Stage One project will require an investment of AUD 2 billion (USD 1.34bn/EUR 1.3bn). All agreements needed to begin its construction are now in place, including a grid connection agreement with the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), the developer said.

To be installed in Rokewood, near Geelong, the wind farm will be equipped with 122 units of Vestas Wind Systems A/S’ V162-6.2 MW turbines, which are slated to begin operations in the first quarter of 2025.

Vestas will handle the engineering procurement and construction (EPC) work for the project, while AusNet Services will be in charge of all grid-connection works. The wind farm will be operated by Australia’s Westwind Energy.

The Stage One project has received non-recourse debt financing from Australia’s green bank, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, Denmark’s EKF, Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank, Japan’s Mizuho Bank and Bank of China.

Once up and running, Golden Plains will be Australia’s largest wind farm, expected to generate power for over 750,000 homes. The complex will be coupled with 300 MW of battery storage capacity.

TagEnergy is controlled by Impala SAS and supported by major investors Mirova and Omnes.

(AUD 1.0 = USD 0.671/EUR 0.648)

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!