MacIntyre wind farm is a proposed 1,026MW onshore wind complex to be built 200km south-west of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
The wind farm is being developed by ACCIONA in partnership with CleanCo, an Australian state-owned electricity generator.
Recommended White Papers
Recommended Buyers Guides
The MacIntyre wind farm will occupy 36,000ha of leased land and is expected to be ACCIONA’s biggest renewable energy facility. It will also become one of the world’s largest onshore wind farms upon completion.
Estimated to involve an investment of approximately A$1.96bn ($1.17bn), the wind farm project is expected to fortify the Queensland Government’s decarbonisation and climate change mitigation strategies.
The construction of the wind farm will commence in mid-2021 and is expected to be completed over a period of 18-24 months. The MacIntyre complex is expected to become fully operational in 2024.
MacIntyre wind farm location
The wind farm will be located 50km south-west of Warwick and 60km south-south-east of Millmerran in Queensland, Australia.
The site was prefered for the wind farm development based on its exposure to consistent winds. The land area of the wind farm will be predominately used for sheep farming.
MacIntyre wind farm development
ACCIONA will submit the development application to the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA), requesting a development license for a material change of use (MCU) to allow construction and operation of the wind farm in mid-2020.
CleanCo entered an agreement with ACCIONA to become an independent owner and operator of 100MW wind farm in the MacIntyre complex in March 2020. The agreement allows ACCIONA to own 926MW of the power complex, while the remaining 100MW will be owned by CleanCo.
CleanCo will also purchase 400MW of renewable energy from ACCIONA’s facilities for a period of ten years under a power purchase agreement (PPA).
The Queensland government-owned electricity transmission system operator Powerlink is responsible for providing a new connection from the project to the grid.
MacIntyre wind farm details
The MacIntyre wind farm will feature 180 Nordex Group’s Delta4000 turbines rated at 5.7MW each. It will have a total of three substations, each holding a power transformer.
The project will also include 200km of access tracks and up to 250km of 33kV underground electrical cabling.
The wind farm will be commissioned in phases and will be connected to the grid through 64km of 330kV transmission lines.
The underground power cables will connect each wind turbine to an on-site substation. The overhead transmission line will connect the on-site substation to the Powerlink transmission network.
MacIntyre wind farm infrastructure details
MacIntyre wind farm will have access roads for transportation of equipment and connecting routes between the turbines. The access roads will also be used for maintenance activities, upon commissioning of the wind farm.
The project site will also include operations and maintenance building for monitoring all on-site operations and also store spare parts for ongoing maintenance. Temporary construction compounds, including car park, storage facilities, site office and amenities, will also be built.
Project benefits
The wind farm will have the capacity to produce electricity to power approximately 700,000 homes and reduce CO₂ emissions by three million tonnes each year.
The project will create up to 400 jobs over its operational lifetime. It will also contribute towards increasing economic activity across the Goondiwindi, Southern Downs and Toowoomba Regional Council areas.
A community enhancement programme will be established to deliver added value to the local community and schools. The college and TAFE students will receive financial support under the community scholarship programme.
