Meridian to build Mt Mercer wind farm

Meridian Energy Australia will soon start construction on Mt Mercer, a 64-turbine wind farm in Victoria.

The 131 MW wind farm, located 30 km south of Ballarat, will occupy seven conjoint landholdings equalling 2460 ha. While the land will continue to be used for cropping, sheep, cattle and pig farming, the wind farm will provide sufficient renewable energy to meet the electricity needs of the entire population of Ballarat.

Meridian Australia Chief Executive Ben Burge says, “With a capital cost of around AU$260 million, the Mt Mercer project increases Meridian’s existing presence in Australia and further leverages Meridian’s proven experience in designing and managing the construction of new wind farms in some of the toughest terrains on the planet.”

Construction of Mt Mercer will start in December this year and will take approximately two years to complete. The project will employ around 200 people during construction. Upon completion, it will provide approximately 20 permanent jobs in the Ballarat region.

The wind farm will be connected to the Victorian Electricity Grid by a new power line and green field terminal station near the town of Elaine. This connection will be built, owned and operated by Transmission Operations (Australia), which has the same majority owners as distribution companies Powercor/Citipower.

“Meridian will continue to engage the local community to ensure that the benefits of the wind farm are maximised and any impacts minimised,” said Burge.

Burge says that the competitive national electricity market, combined with the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (requiring approximately one fifth of electricity generation to be from renewable sources by 2020), is enabling renewable energy to be delivered for all Australians on a low-cost and efficient basis.

“Our job is to deliver efficient sources of renewable energy to the market and assist electricity retailers to meet the MRET liabilities, improve choice and price for Australian electricity consumers,” said Burge.

“We’re excited to be proceeding with Mt Mercer with the support of our partners - REpower Systems SE, Downer EDI and Transmissions Operations (Australia).”

Mt Mercer will be Meridian’s third wind farm in Australia. Meridian owns and operates Mt Millar wind farm in South Australia and is partnering with AGL Energy to build the Macarthur wind farm in Western Victoria, which, at 420 MW, will be the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.