State authorities in Victoria, Australia have given approval to the Warracknabeal Energy Park, a major renewable energy project that will now advance to federal review. The Planning Minister signed off on the development this week, five months after environmental impact assessments were completed. The facility will occupy 26,000 hectares of farmland in western Victoria and will be developed by WestWind Energy.
The project involves construction of 219 wind turbines and two battery storage systems, each with 300-megawatt capacity. Once operational, the wind farm is projected to generate 1.5 gigawatts of renewable electricity, sufficient to supply power to approximately 1.2 million homes. The facility would surpass the Golden Plains Wind Farm, currently the largest wind installation in Australia and the Southern Hemisphere, which operates 215 turbines with 1.33-gigawatt capacity.
Victoria already leads Australia in wind energy capacity with 2,610 megawatts installed, and wind currently provides roughly 24% of the state’s electricity generation. Combined with solar at 16%, renewables account for 44.6% of Victoria’s power supply. However, the state remains heavily dependent on coal-fired generation, which supplies over half of electricity needs through plants in the Latrobe Valley. Natural gas supplements peak demand periods.
The approval comes as Australia pursues broader decarbonization goals, including a target of 82% renewable electricity by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050. The nation’s electricity generation mix currently comprises coal at 42.7%, renewables at 39.6%, and natural gas at 16.2%. Wind energy is designated as a critical component for replacing retiring coal-fired facilities, with projections indicating final domestic coal plant closures around 2049. The Warracknabeal project will now proceed to federal environmental review before final development decisions are made.
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