This is a list of wind farms in Australia, with a generating capacity of more than 50 MW, which are operating, under construction, or for which planning approval has been received.
Large wind farms approved and under construction:
Wind farm | Installed capacity (MW) | Developer | Turbine make | State | Coordinates | Expected completion |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
MacIntyre Herries Range Wind Farm | 2023 | Acciona & Clean Co | Nordex Group | Queensland | 28°20′24″S151°30′26″E / 28.3399°S 151.5073°E | 2025 |
Golden Plains Wind Farm | 1330 | Westwind Energy | Vestas | Victoria | 2027 | |
Rye Park Wind Farm | 396 | Tilt Renewables | Vestas | New South Wales | 2024 |
Wind power, a form of renewable energy harnessed through wind turbines, stands as a pivotal contributor to Australia's energy landscape. With a total installed wind capacity reaching approximately 9,100 megawatts (MW), as of October 2023, wind power constitutes a significant portion, representing 5% of Australia's total primary energy supply and a substantial 35% of its renewable energy supply. Australia's geographic disposition favors the proliferation of wind energy infrastructure, particularly in the southern regions of the nation and along the slopes of the Great Dividing Range in the east. Approximately half of Australia's wind farms are located near coastal regions.
Solar power is a major contributor to electricity supply in Australia. As of December 2023, Australia's over 3.69 million solar PV installations had a combined capacity of 34.2 GW photovoltaic (PV) solar power. In 2019, 59 solar PV projects with a combined capacity of 2,881 MW were either under construction, constructed or due to start construction having reached financial closure. Solar accounted for 12.4% of Australia's total electrical energy production in 2021.
Wind power became a significant energy source within South Australia over the first two decades of the 21st century. In 2015, there was an installed capacity of 1,475 MW, which accounted for 34% of electricity production in the state. This accounted for 35% of Australia's installed wind power capacity. In 2021, there was an installed capacity of 2052.95 MW, which accounted for 42.1% of the electricity production in the state in 2020.
Wind power constitutes a small but growing proportion of New Zealand's electricity. As of December 2020, wind power accounts for 690 MW of installed capacity and over 5 percent of electricity generated in the country.
Stockyard Hill Wind Farm is a wind farm project in Victoria (Australia). In October 2022 the project completed its hold point tests, and was approved by the Australian Energy Market Operator and Network Services Provider to generate up to its maximum capacity of 511MW into the National Electricity Market.
The Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility is a wind farm in the Amathole District Municipality, built within the wind energy generation zone located in the centre of Bedford, Cookhouse and Somerset East, in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.