Ratch Australia’s 180MW Mt Emerald wind farm in Queensland has been officially opened by the premier of the Australian state Annastacia Palaszczuk.
Mt Emerald is located about 50km south west of Cairns and features 53 Vestas V112 and V117 turbines.
The project will supply electricity to Ergon Retail until a long-term contract and is connected to the electricity grid via a new substation owned and built by Queensland’s publicly-owned transmission operator Powerlink.
Palaszczuk said: “Queensland has more than 2400MW of large‑scale renewable energy capacity operating already.
“Almost 900MW more of large-scale renewable capacity is currently financially committed or under construction.
“Together, these projects represent more than A$5bn in capital investment and more than 4500 constructions jobs in regional Queensland.
“The Mt Emerald wind farm will supply 500 million kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity every year, which is enough to power 80,000 homes a year, the equivalent to supplying about one third of the Far North’s energy needs.
“Construction has also boosted the local economy with around A$66m of direct investment into the Far North, about 200 positions filled by local workers and 20 businesses in the region winning contracts.”
Ratch Australia EGM for business development Anthony Yeates said that the wind farm is “now generating a significant quantity of safe, clean, renewable electricity for North Queensland.”