Victoria approves the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere

A wind farm touted as the biggest in the southern hemisphere has been given the green light by the Victorian government, with the 219-turbine facility receiving state environmental approvals.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny has approved an environment effects statement for the Warracknabeal Energy Park, a document which assesses the impact of major projects before they can proceed.

Located in the state’s northwest, north of Horsham, the project site area covers 25,000 hectares and has been the subject of intense debate in the local community, including from advocacy groups who strongly oppose the proposal in its current form.

When completed, the 219 turbines will be able to generate 1.5 gigawatts of electricity, which the state government estimates would power up to 1.2 million homes and deliver about 12.5 per cent of Victoria’s future energy needs.

The Allan government says the Warracknabeal Energy Park is the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere, topping the Golden Plains project in south-west Victoria which has approval for 215 turbines built across two stages.

Kilkenny’s decision marks a significant milestone for the project, even though there are still some approvals required, including from the Commonwealth under national environment laws.

“This is a major step towards delivering the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere, right here in Victoria,” Kilkenny said. “This rigorous EES process has shown this project can go ahead while meeting Victoria’s environmental standards.”

The environmental effects process included technical studies on the impact of the wind farm, community consultation, and a public inquiry that ran hearings from November to January which received more than 90 submissions.

Among those submissions was Horsham Rural City Council, which raised concerns that project proponent WestWind Energy and the state government did not fully appreciate the combined impacts of multiple large energy and mining projects on the region.

It said worker accommodation, a tight labour market and the management of local roads as trucks carried heavy wind turbines were three key issues for the municipality.

“The development of the [energy park] and multiple other large-scale projects concurrently will seriously strain the regional accommodation and housing supply,” the council’s submission said.

Advocacy groups such as the Wimmera Mallee Environmental & Agricultural Protection Association (WMEAPA) strongly opposed the project at the inquiry and argued it did not have local support. In August, when the environment effects process started, the group said the project was “not just a few windmills in a paddock”.

“This is major industrial infrastructure in our rural community. This will change our community, skyline and living conditions forever,” they said in a statement at the time.

WMEAPA is part of the Across Victoria Alliance, a loose political movement formed in March last year which is particularly concerned about the impact on regional communities of the transition to renewable energy. This sentiment has been seized on by the Nationals – who have pledged to pause and review two proposed transmission lines in western Victoria – and a resurgent One Nation.

In February, the alliance held a conference in Horsham, 40 minutes away from Warracknabeal, which was attended by One Nation recruit Barnaby Joyce and which Premier Jacinta Allan labelled a “misinformation convention”.

Motions at that conference called on the government to provide statutory protection for prime agricultural land, and for all energy infrastructure projects to be put through state planning processes rather than being fast-tracked.

The Warracknabeal Energy Park’s 219 turbines will be backed by battery storage systems to capture and provide energy when there is less electricity being generated. New transmission lines will connect the northern and southern sections of the project into Victoria’s electricity grid.

The Allan government expects the project will create almost 950 jobs during construction, along with ongoing local jobs once it is up and running.

Victoria has set a target for renewable energy to provide 65 per cent of the state’s electricity by 2030 and 95 per cent by 2035. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the Warracknabeal Energy Park would deliver a massive boost to the state’s renewable energy capacity.

In 2024-25, onshore wind provided about 21 per cent of electricity generation, solar accounted for 15 per cent and hydroelectricity was 5 per cent. In total, 42.4 per cent of the state’s generation came from renewable energy sources.

Victoria hopes to boost these figures with offshore wind farms that could replicate the output of coal-fired powered stations.

Auctions for the first of these offshore wind were delayed as multiple bidders pulled out of the bidding process last year. They are now scheduled to begin in August.