ACCIONA starts commissioning its fourth wind farm in Australia

ACCIONA has started the commissioning process of the 132-MW Mount Gellibrand Wind Farm, which has involved an investment of AUD258m in the state of Victoria (around EUR165M at current exchange rates).

As the 44 turbines come online, energy production will ramp up to around 66MW in July, and to the full 132MW capacity in August. Total output will power approximately 60,000 homes.

Mt. Gellibrand is equipped with Nordex AW125/3000 wind turbines with rated power of 3MW and a rotor diameter of 125 meters installed on an 87.5-metre-high (hub height) steel tower.

“It’s a great moment for the team, the local community and Victoria,” said Brett Wickham, ACCIONA Energy Australia’s Managing Director. “This project represents a significant investment in the state and in the Australian renewables sector. We are immensely proud to see energy production starting. We are also grateful to the local community for their support over the past year, and to all the employees and local contractors for their hard work and dedication in reaching this milestone.”

The construction of the project followed a public tender process in which the Victorian Government committed to purchasing the renewable energy certificates generated from 66MW of Mt Gellibrand. These certificates will contribute to the state’s renewable energy generation targets of 25 per cent by 2020 and 40 per cent by 2025.

Mt Gellibrand will be ACCIONA Energy’s fourth wind farm in Australia after Cathedral Rocks (64 MW in South Australia), Waubra (192 MW in Victoria) and Gunning (46.5 MW in New South Wales). Australia, where ACCIONA has 434.5 MW, ranks fourth in ACCIONA’s portfolio of wind assets after Spain, the USA and Mexico.