A plan to build a 490-megawatt wind farm in the Mid West has been put before federal regulators, as its developers push to begin producing energy by 2028.
A plan to build a 490-megawatt wind farm in the Mid West has been put before federal regulators, as its developers push to begin producing energy by 2028.
The Parron wind farm project would be built 8km east of Badgingarra, comprise as many as 79 wind turbines across 18 square kilometres, and produce enough energy to power 200,000 homes, according to a submission by proponent Zephyr Energy Pty Ltd.
The 230-metre-tall wind turbines would be installed by Vestas, and connected to Western Power’s South West Interconnected System (SWIS) to contribute energy to state’s main grid.
Zephyr is majority-owned by Atmos Renewables, which partnered with WA farmer Tim Stevenson (through his company Parron Developments) in mid-2024. Parron started planning the project in 2016.
The proponents hope to make a final investment decision on the project next year, with a view to beginning construction shortly after and having the turbines in production in 2028.
The project is currently before federal regulators and will also require state approvals.
It sits around 50km northwest of Alinta Energy’s Yandin wind farm, currently the largest in the state, and nearby Bright Energy’s Warradarge and APA Group’s Badgingarra and Emu Downs wind farms in a cluster known as the “north country zone” to those in the sector.
News of the submission comes weeks after the state signed off on $913 million worth of funding towards two major wind farm projects at King Rocks and an expansion of Warradarge.
Vestas has also secured work on these projects.
The state’s Environmental Protection Authority opted not to assess a proposed 25 turbine wind farm by French firm Neoen at Narrogin today, ticking a box in that project’s favour.
It follows a lull in activity for major wind projects in the state, with Business News reporting in August 2024 that no projects were under construction despite grand ambitions for the state’s to phase out coal-fired power by 2030.
The Parron wind farm will be linked to the SWIS via the state-owned transmission infrastructure in the area, which will be the subject of a $655 million investment via the Clean Energy Link program.
Grid restraints have previously blocked renewables projects – including Yandin and Warradarge – from contributing fully to the network.
Renewables supplied 45 per cent of the SWIS’ power needs on average, over the past week.
