115,000
equivalent households
The wind farm is being constructed on cleared open and level land that is predominantly used for dairy farming.
The location is highly exposed to consistent winds, making the site ideal for wind powered electricity generation. Livestock grazing will continue around the wind turbines once construction is complete.
In 2018, the Mortlake South Wind Farm was successful in the Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET) reverse auction. VRET is the Victorian Government’s legislated target aiming for 25% of electricity generation from renewable sources by 2020 and 40% by 2025.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- Project Configuration: 35 x Nordex 4.5MW turbines
- Capacity: up to 157.5 MW
- Final planning approval: April 2017
- Completion date: End 2020
- Energy production: equivalent up to 117,000 households
- Grid connection: 15km underground connection line to 220kV Terang substation
- Tip Height: Ranges from 186m
- Project value: $280M AUD
- Project location:5km from Mortlake in Moyne Shire
COMMUNITY BENEFITS
- The Mortlake South Wind Farm brings significant economic activity with a positive effect on the region.
- Generation of 80-100 construction jobs
- Up to 10 ongoing operations and maintenance jobs on site for the life of the project (~20+ years)
- Substantial additional economic focus in the Moyne Shire, complementary to ongoing dairying, grazing, cropping, tourism and service activities
- Substantial increase in the Moyne Shire’s rates base
- Diversified income for host landowners
- A targeted Shared Benefits Program to strategically deliver added value to the local region for the operational life of the project. It comprises of several initiatives:
- Establecimiento de un Programa de Beneficios Compartidos (Shared Benefits Program) para generar valor añadido a la región local durante el ciclo de vida del proyecto, compuesto por:
- Neighbourhood Benefit Program
- Small Grants / Sponsorship Program
- Scholarship Program
key points
- ACCIONA's fifth wind farm in Australia and third in Victoria
- Estimated investment of 180 million euros
Clean energy for some 115,000 homes - It will prevent the emission of some 532,000 tonnes of CO2 from coal-fired power stations per year
- About 100 jobs on average created during construction and 10 stable jobs in operation
- Nordex wind turbines of the latest technology, with rotors of 149 meters in diameter and nominal power of 4.5 MW, the most powerful installed by the company in the world
- Equipped with a battery storage facility of between 4 and 5 MW of power, to increase their performance and facilitate their integration into the grid
- Located 5 km south of Mortlake township, in the Moyne Shire region
Key figures
157.5
megawatts (MW) capacity
115,000
equivalent households
35
wind turbines of 4.5 MW rated capacity each
532,000
tons of CO2 avoided per year
+100
new jobs
180
million € investments
technology and innovation
Energy Storage
This wind farm incorporates an energy storage facility in order to increase its performance and facilitate its integration into the power grid. From Innovation, solutions are developed to increase flexibility and reduce the intermittency of renewable generation assets, improve the quality of the energy generated, favour its integration into the grid and enable greater access to renewable energies in the electricity system
Turbine for life
Project that contributes to increasing the useful life of wind turbines, to getting to know the state of the fleet and to detecting anomalous behaviour in order to optimise the management and the operation and maintenance costs of the assets.
For the analysis of the remaining life of the structural components we work on developing physical models. Two lines of work are being carried out to predict failures in ACCIONA's wind turbine fleet: the development of WindBrain® to detect abnormal behaviour, and the use of Machine Learning to identify failure patterns in wind components.
ACCIONA is committed to managing the environmental impact of its projects in nearby communities.
Social Impact Management
- The following strategies have been key in fostering a positive relationship:
- Forum made up of land owners, neighbours, local businesses, emergency services,
council members and builders to ensure that they represent the different interests of the
community. - Distribution of communication materials: quarterly newsletter, press releases and a fortnightly update on the state of construction.
- Community information centre located in the largest population centre.
- Follow-up meetings with neighbours and land owners.
- Site visits with local schools, universities and community groups.
Social action
The following actions in 2019 merit special mention:
- Shared benefits programme: the initiative not only supports the projects of local groups,
but also develops a programme of benefits for the community and promotes local
economic activity. - Community investment: in addition to disseminating the contribution of renewable
energy to society, the company works to build a positive relationship with different
stakeholders. One of the highlights is the lookout point installed on Mount Noorat with
information panels to provide information on how green energy works. Also noteworthy
is the agreement signed for post-doctoral grants to researchers in related areas.
Socio-economic impact
139.13
M€ contribution to GDP
371
jobs (over the entire project life cycle)
691,405
tCO₂ emissions avoided per year
1,018,347
m³ of water per year
4,620
tons of SO₂ and NOx avoided per year