Mount Emerald Wind Farm is a 180 MW wind farm situated on Mount Emerald, in Arriga, Shire of Mareeba, Queensland, Australia. It is approximately 8 km WNW of Tolga, and 49 km SW of Cairns. The project is a joint venture between Port Bajool (land owner) and RATCH-Australia (wind farm developer and operator). RATCH-Australia bought the project from Transfield Services in July 2011. The wind farm incorporates 53 turbines.
Construction
Approval from the state government came in April 2015. Federal government approval happened in November 2015, subject to 35 conditions aimed at protecting native species. The site was formerly used as a military training area in World War II so the site had to be carefully inspected to find any unexpoded ordnance; several were found and safely destroyed.
Operations
The wind farm registered its first grid output in August 2018 and reached maximum output in January 2019. The electricity network around the wind farm is generally constrained; this has an impact on the total amount of electricity it can receive from the wind farm. Studies are being undertaken to increase the capacity of the network using technologies such as synchronous condensers and grid-scale batteries.
Environmental impact
Environmental groups have claimed that the construction of roads and bases for the wind turbines caused significant destruction of the formerly untouched wilderness.
Photo gallery
See also
- Wind power in Australia
- List of wind farms in Queensland
References
External links
- Mount Emerald wind farm photographs, State Library of Queensland
