Ararat 420MW Wind Farm

Overview:

• The Ararat 420MW Wind Farm is one of the largest wind farms developed in Australia and was developed by Renewable Energy Systems (RES) with total investment of A$450 million.
• In February 2015, the wind farm was awarded the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) government feed-in-tariff through a highly competitive reverse wind auction where a significant portion of the wind farm’s output was contracted to the ACT.
• The project was negotiated in the context of ongoing uncertainty about the Renewable Energy Target and uncertainty regarding the Clean Energy Finance Corporation’s mandate to invest in wind projects.
• It is the first wind farm in Australia to be project financed on a partially merchant basis, and it was also the first wind project that Export Development Canada has funded in Australia.
• The 240MW wind farm in Victoria started generating electricity on 30 August 2016, with the first five of the project's 75 GE turbines producing 23 MWh a day.

Adam Majeed - Regional editor