Victoria's $1.5 Billion New Wind Farm Could Supply Ten Percent of the State's Energy

It seems those wind turbines you've spied from atop the ridge at Meredith Music Festival could soon have a few new buddies. Victoria's latest wind farm project is one step closer to reality, with the mammoth Golden Plains Wind Farm being granted planning approval by the Victorian Government over the weekend.

The decision follows a hefty environmental impacts assessment carried out last year and advice from an expert planning panel, with the project now headed to the federal government for final approval.

If given the go-ahead, the $1.5 billion wind farm would cover a huge 17,000 hectares of land, about 60 kilometres northwest of Geelong. It's expected to produce almost 3000 gigawatt hours of electricity annually, or enough to power more than 400,000 homes. To put that in perspective, the project is expected to provide between 8–10 percent of Victoria's energy, according to The Guardian, with greenhouse savings of almost 3.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

One of the farmlands expected to gain wind turbines is the one that hosts the Meredith and Golden Plains Music Festival. But festivalgoers need fret not, with a government spokesperson telling the SMH that is was unlikely the project will have any impact on the festivals.

Wind turbines on the horizon at Golden Plains by Steve Benn.

The Golden Plains Wind Farm, which, if approved, is slated for completion by 2023, would join a stack of other Victorian clean energy projects already under way in places like Moorabool, Lal Lal, Bulgana, Murra Warra and Stockyard Hill. It all comes as the government increases Victoria's Renewable Energy Target to 50 percent by 2030.

In 2017, wind farms supplied 5.7 percent of Australia's overall electricity, according to the Clean Energy Council. While Victoria is currently home to the nation's largest wind farm, in Macarthur, SA has the most, but Queensland and NSW are also investing in renewable technology — as of December last year, Queensland had 27 wind and solar farm projects under construction and NSW had 23.

If the Golden Plains Wind Farm is approved by the federal government, it is slated for completion by 2023. For more information about the project, head to w-wind.com.au/golden-plains-wind-farm.