Macarthur Wind Farm

The Macarthur Wind Farm is a wind farm located in Macarthur, Victoria, Australia, near Hamilton, 260km west of Melbourne. It is on a 5,500 ha site which has an installed capacity of 420 megawatts (MW). Based on the prevailing wind speeds at the site, it is estimated that the long-term average generation will be approximately 1,250 GWh per year, operating at a capacity factor of around 35%. The actual wind speed varies year-to-year, and during FY2015 the farm produced 977.9 GWh.

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It is the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere generating enough power for 220,000 homes and abating 1.7 million tons of greenhouse gases annually, at a capacity factor of 35%. The wind farm comprises 140 Vestas V112-3.0MW wind turbines manufactured in Denmark.

The project cost about A$1 billion and was fully operational in January 2013. It was constructed by Vestas and Leighton Contractors. The first turbines were connected to the grid in September 2012. AGL also invested an additional $27m in the substation, which is completely owned by the company.

The project was proposed in 2004 and approved by the Victorian government in October 2006. The project was developed by a joint venture formed by AGL Energy and Meridian Energy, a New Zealand-based power generating company, with works starting in 2010. In 2013, Meridian sold its 50% share in the wind farm to Malaysian power company Malakoff Corporation Berhad for A$650 million. In September 2015, AGL Energy sold its 50% stake in the wind farm to H R L Morrison & Co managed funds (Morrison & Co) for $532m. AGL Energy will operate and maintain the wind farm instead of Morrison & Co and Malakoff. It also reserves the rights to all renewable energy certificates and electricity production until 2038.