Blades now turning at Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm

The first turbine has been switched on and the blades have started turning, generating the first megawatts of renewable energy at ACCIONA’s Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm on Victoria’s Western Plains.

Mt Gellibrand is equipped with Nordex AW125/3000 wind turbines with rated power of 3 MW and a rotor diameter of 125 m installed on an 87.5 m-high (hub height) steel tower. Construction work began in April 2017 and is now largely complete, with most of the wind farm’s 44 turbines finished and just a few remaining blades left to be installed.

A commissioning process designed to test the turbines and their electrical connections is now underway. As the turbines come online, energy production will ramp up to around 66 MW in July and the full 132 MW capacity in August. Total output will power approximately 60,000 homes.

“It’s a great moment for the team, the local community and Victoria,” said Brett Wickham, Managing Director of ACCIONA Energy Australia. “This project represents a $258 million 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 Mt Gellibrand. These certificates will contribute to the state’s renewable energy generation targets of 25% by 2020 and 40% by 2025.

Mt Gellibrand will be ACCIONA Energy’s fourth wind farm in Australia.

Image caption: ACCIONA’s Mt Gellibrand Wind Farm enters the commissioning phase.