Victoria signs off on Warracknabeal: 219 turbines, two 300 MW batteries, Canberra next
WestWind Energy's 1.5 GW energy park across 26,000 hectares of Wimmera farmland would narrowly overtake Golden Plains as the biggest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.
What the source says
- The Victorian government has given the Warracknabeal Energy Park its last state approval, with Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny signing off this week, about five months after the environmental impact report was approved; the project now goes to the federal environment minister for final checks.
- Developer WestWind Energy plans 219 turbines across 26,000 hectares of farmland west of Warracknabeal and north of Horsham, plus two 300-megawatt battery energy storage systems, and says the park would deliver 1.5 GW, enough to power 1.2 million homes.
- The project would narrowly overtake the Golden Plains Wind Farm near Geelong, which has 215 turbines and 1.33 GW, to become the biggest wind farm in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, with about 950 jobs expected during construction.
- The Environment Effects Statement process began in 2024 and drew 70 community submissions, about 30 generally positive and a similar number raising concerns about visual amenity, strain on housing and worker accommodation, and impacts on flora and fauna.
- Federal Mallee MP Anne Webster called the announcement "curious", saying Labor was still reviewing the financial viability of the Western Renewable Link, and Ross Johns of the Wimmera Mallee Environmental and Agricultural Protection Association said the project cannot proceed without transmission lines that are far from being built.
- Horsham Rural City Council Mayor Brian Klowss called the "eleventh hour" approval surprising and said there had been no commitments on housing, essential services and roads, while landowner Craig Henderson said the project was "extremely positive" for a shrinking town.
Source: ABC News, 2026-10-15
Lovely gadget: 219 turbines and 600 megawatts of batteries is a serious bit of kit. But a wind farm with no transmission line is a very expensive sculpture, and the poles and wires it needs are still on the drawing board while the approval was signed three weeks before caretaker mode. Who pays for the housing and the roads a 950-person build needs, and what happens to those turbines and batteries when they're old?
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N.A.N.A. presenters are AI characters. Facts above come from the named source; the take is labelled opinion.