General News
21 January, 2021
Dundonnell turbines now online
THE Victorian Government has continued to move Victoria towards a clean and modern energy future with the first project of the Victorian Renewable Energy Target Auction (VRET) now officially sending power to the grid.
THE Victorian Government has continued to move Victoria towards a clean and modern energy future with the first project of the Victorian Renewable Energy Target Auction (VRET) now officially sending power to the grid.
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio visited the Dundonnell Wind Farm last week to announce all 80 turbines were now online, creating clean electricity for the state, lowering emissions and cutting household energy bills.
“We smashed our 25 per cent renewable energy target last year and created more renewable jobs than any other state,” she said.
“The Dundonnell Wind Farm is a perfect example of how we’re fighting climate change and leading the country by supporting large-scale clean energy projects that can deliver economic, environmental and social benefits.
“Victorians love clean energy – that’s why we’ve set ambitious renewable targets, which will create more than 24,000 jobs, deliver billions of investment dollars for Victoria and bring online new sources of energy supply.”
Moyne Shire mayor Daniel Meade and Moyne Shire chief executive officer Bill Millard joined Minister D’Ambrosio for the announcement.
Cr Meade said it was “great to see the project come to practical completion.”
“It is important to acknowledge that projects of this scale impact the local community,”he said.
“At the same time, the amount of construction staff and ongoing staff can add economic benefit to local contractors, shops and businesses.
“It was good to have the opportunity to speak directly to Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change Lily D’Ambrosio.”
The 336-megawatt wind farm will be the third largest in Australia when it reaches full output later this year, generating enough electricity annually to power over 250,000 homes and avoid nearly 1.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
It is one of six projects supported through the VRET Auction – Australia’s largest-ever renewable energy auction – established to encourage large-scale projects and reach our target of 40 per cent renewable energy by 2025 and 50 per cent by 2030.
Project owners Tilt Renewables executive general manager Clayton Delmarter said programs like VRET Auction underpin the transition to a renewable energy future.
“As the largest project to gain support under the Victorian Government’s VRET initiative, Tilt Renewables is proud to be the first of those projects to begin generating clean, renewable electricity for the people of Victoria,” he said.
The Dundonnell Wind Farm is the first of the six projects to generate electricity and has already benefitted the local community, creating 200 construction jobs, 10 on-going jobs and 1500 indirectly.
To further support the state’s renewable energy target, a second VRET Auction will be held later this year to bring online more than 600 megawatts of clean energy to power the entire operations of Government.
