The Clean Energy Regulator in Australia has approved the accreditation of the almost 532MW Stockyard Hill wind farm in the state of Victoria under the country’s Renewable Energy Target scheme.
Accreditation means that Stockyard Hill is eligible to earn large-scale generation certificates when it sends electricity to the grid.
Clean Energy Regulator chair David Parker said that, while the Renewable Energy Target was effectively achieved in 2019, the market is maintaining strong investment and delivery of new renewable power stations.
He said: “Australia continues to be a world leader in renewable energy. The accreditation of Australia’s largest wind farm coincides with the largest ever increase in additional renewable energy generation in any one year – that is an additional 6000 to 8000 gigawatt hours of large-scale renewable energy in 2020, compared with 2019.
“Since the beginning of 2020, we have seen the accreditation of 94 renewable energy projects with a total capacity of 1.3GW.
“These projects are expected to generate over 2,600 gigawatt-hours in 2020, which is enough to power over 460,000 households.
“This generation will deliver approximately 2 million tonnes of carbon abatement. An additional 2.1GW of utility-scale renewable energy is expected to be delivered by the end of 2020.”
The regulator said that there is now 24GW of accredited capacity under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target, with another 4GW currently under construction and 2GW with signed power purchase agreements.
Parker added: “Australians can be confident that our growing supply of renewable electricity, both large and small-scale, is contributing to Australia’s international carbon reduction commitments.”
Construction of the wind farm’s 149 Goldwind turbines is ongoing and Stockyard Hill is expected online later this year.
In January, Qatari power company Nebras Power Investment Management acquired a 49% stake in the project, with Goldwind holding the remaining 51%.