Vestas gets nod for 336MW Dundonnell in Australia
Wind OEM gets first Australian order for V150-4.2MW from Tilt Renewables project that won in Victoria tender
Vestas confirmed a big win in Australia with a 336MW deal to supply the Dundonnell Wind Farm being built by Tilt Renewables in the state of Victoria.
Dundonnell will use Vestas’ V150-4.2MW model, marking the first order for the turbine in the Australian market.
Tilt Renewables today announced financial close for the A$560m ($404m) project, which was one for the winners in Victoria’s first round of renewable energy auctions in September.
Tilt said the Victorian government and power group Snowy Hydro have between them contracted about 87% of the power output from Dundonnell, expected to total 1,230GWh annually.
The wind farm is due to be operational in 2020. Tilt said it has struck an agreement for a shared transmission line that can be used by other wind operators, minimising duplication of infrastructure.
Vestas – which had already banked one order from the Victoria auctions – will use part-locally-produced towers to support the turbines, with a hub height of 114-metres.
Under the governing Labor administration Victoria, home to the country's second-largest city, Melbourne, is one of the Australian states most enthusiastically backing renewables development – a stance that has frequently been at odds with the less sympathetic policy at federal level.
The state has a legislated target that requires 25% of power generation to come from renewable sources by 2020, and 40% by 2025.
The Labor Party has pledged to raise the latter target to 50% by 2030 if it wins state elections later this month.
However, the opposition Coalition wants to scrap the target altogether if it is victorious.