Octopus acquires 1 GW wind farm in NSW

Renewable energy developer Octopus Australia (Octopus) has acquired 28,000 hectares of land near Deniliquin, NSW, for the development of the new 1 GW Merino Wind Farm. This land is adjacent to another Octopus-owned energy project — the 400 MW Saltbush (formerly Hay Plains) Wind Farm.

The latest acquisition means that Octopus has now secured up to 35,000 hectares in the South-West NSW Renewable Energy Zone (SW-NSW REZ), something the company credits to the strong trust and relationships it has established with local landowners.

Combined, the Saltbush Wind Farm and the $3.5 billion Merino Wind Farm will enable the generation of over 1.5 GW of power. Octopus said its wind developments would be supported by large-scale solar and battery storage, creating firmed renewable energy generation for the area. The additional land also offers the potential to connect to key transmission lines in the future, strategically positioning Octopus for upcoming Access Rights Tenders.

“The acquisition marks a major milestone in Octopus Australia’s strategy to build a portfolio of energy assets which model what a future clean energy generation base will look like in Australia,” said Darren Brown, Co-Managing Director of Octopus Australia.

“These cornerstone wind assets, supplemented with Octopus’s storage and solar developments across the NEM, are designed to be an integrated, multi-technology portfolio that can offer truly unique and differentiated Power Purchase Agreement products to energy customers and sustainable value to investors.”

The Merino Wind Farm acquisition builds on Octopus’s secured renewables portfolio in strategic locations across Australia’s major east coast energy markets. The company said it now has an operating and development portfolio of over $11bn (enterprise value at completion), which includes Fulham Solar Farm and Battery and Blind Creek Solar Farm and Battery, both of which are due to start construction later this year.

Image credit: iStock.com/onuma Inthapong