Octopus Australia has acquired an additional 28,000 hectares of land near Deniliquin, New South Wales, for the development of its 1GW Merino Wind Farm.
This land is adjacent to the 400MW Saltbush (formerly Hay Plains) Wind Farm also owned by Octopus.
With this latest acquisition, Octopus has now secured up to 35,000 hectares in the South-West NSW Renewable Energy Zone (SW-NSW REZ).
These developments will be supported by large scale solar and battery storage, creating firmed renewable energy generation for the area, Octopus said.
The additional land also offers the potential to connect to key transmission lines in the future, strategically positioning Octopus for the upcoming and future Access Rights Tenders, it added.
On the back of the 2024-25 Federal Budget and the Government’s plans for Australia to be a renewable energy superpower, multi-billion-dollar wind projects of this scale will be key in delivering on this target and driving momentum towards net zero emissions, according the developer.
Darren Brown, co-managing director at Octopus Australia, said: “The acquisition marks a major milestone in Octopus Australia’s strategy to build a portfolio of energy assets which model what a future clean energy generation base will look like in Australia.
“These cornerstone wind assets supplemented with Octopus’ storage and solar developments across the NEM, are designed to be an integrated, multi-technology portfolio that can offer truly unique and differentiated PPA products to energy customers and sustainable value to investors.”