Record low price for new Victorian wind farm shows clean energy revolution is here

Today’s announcement that Australia’s largest wind farm, Stockyard Hill (35km west of Ballarat) will be built at record low cost shows that financial markets have decided renewable energy is the future.

Environment Victoria CEO Mark Wakeham said today:

“This 530 megawatt wind farm is a massive project that will accelerate Victoria’s shift away from burning brown coal for electricity.

“Prior to Hazelwood’s closure we heard scaremongering that the lights would go out in Victoria. Now that Hazelwood has closed, we are seeing space in the electricity market for new, job-creating and pollution-reducing renewable energy projects.

“The wind farm will create several hundred jobs in its construction, and then 30 ongoing jobs in regional Victoria. This project will overtake Macarthur wind farm, also in south-west Victoria, to become Australia’s largest wind farm.

“Regional Victoria is experiencing huge benefits from investment in renewable energy, which makes it so puzzling that the Victorian Coalition has promised to scrap the state’s renewable energy target if elected in 2018.”

However Mr Wakeham warned that the recent series of positive announcements on clean energy would grind to a halt in coming months unless the Turnbull government extended the national renewable energy target and the Victorian government legislated the state renewable energy target.

“To meet our national 2020 renewable energy target, all projects will need to be underway this year or next. After that, investment in renewable energy projects could fall off a cliff without longer-term targets.

“We desperately need the Turnbull government to adopt coherent long-term climate and energy policy to support the necessary shift to renewable energy and cut climate pollution,” said Mr Wakeham.