The AUD$850 million Coopers Gap Wind Farm near Kingaroy in Queensland is now one step closer to getting on the grid, thanks to the completion of a nearby substation.
Publicly-owned transmission operator, Powerlink, has energised the new 275 Kilovolt (kV) substation that will connect one of Australia’s largest wind farms to the electricity grid and 9 million Australian energy users.
The Cooper’s Gap Wind Farm is expected to generate up to 440 Megawatts of renewable energy – the equivalent of powering a city the size of Ipswich.
Energy Minister Dr Anthony Lynham said Queensland has led the way with large-scale solar farm development, but ongoing work at the Coopers Gap Wind Farm highlights the expansion of wind power.
“The economic benefits of large-scale renewable projects are far-reaching,” Dr Lynham stated.
“Coopers Gap is just one of more than $5 billion worth of large-scale renewable energy projects that are operational, committed or underway in Queensland, creating more than 4600.”
The Cooper’s Gap Wind Farm is estimated to create up to 200 jobs during construction, while Powerlink’s grid connection works supported 52 jobs.
Once the 23 wind turbines are installed and generating power later in the year, the substation will step up the voltage generated from 33kV to 275kV.
This process enables electricity to be efficiently transported through Powerlink’s existing Western Downs to Halys transmission line and into the state’s transmission network.
The Coopers Gap Wind Farm is being developed by the Powering Australian Renewables Fund (PARF), a partnership between AGL Energy Limited (AGL) and Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) on behalf of its clients the Future Fund and the QIC Global Infrastructure Fund.
