Energy giant AGL has inked an offtake agreement with Tilt Renewables for 100 per cent of the expected 108 megawatts of electricity from the Waddi Wind Farm north of Perth.
Energy giant AGL has inked an offtake agreement with Tilt Renewables for 100 per cent of the expected 108 megawatts of electricity from the Waddi Wind Farm north of Perth.
The 15-year power purchase agreement will provide AGL with 100 per cent of the power generated from the wind farm, tippd to cost $400 million, and follows the project receiving federal environmental approval last week.
The deal means Waddi is almost certain to proceed and will be welcomed by the WA government, which is keen to see more reneweable energy generation ahead of the planned closure of coal-fired power stations by 2030.
It comes months after state-owned utility Synergy commenced work on the King Rocks wind farm in the eastern wheatbelt and Bright Energy Investments (part-owned by Synergy) started an expansion of its Warradarge wind farm in the Mid West.
Several other companies, including Neoen, Collgar Renewables and Acciona, have been progressing approvals for other wind farms but none have signed offtake deals.
Waddi is expected to generate enough electricity to power nearly 70,000 homes each year, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 286,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually - equivalent to taking 90,000 cars off the road each year.
Welcoming the agreement, Tilt Renewables chief executive Anthony Fowler said it demonstrated the strong demand for renewable energy.
"This is a significant milestone for Tilt Renewables with the Waddi Wind Farm being our first project in Western Australia," he said.
"We are currently working through our internal processes and finalising construction contracts. A final investment decision on the project is expected in coming weeks and we are targeting commercial operation in the second half of 2028."
He said, once constructed, the project would generate enough electricity for 68,000 WA homes per year with zero emissions.
"The project will facilitate more than 150 new jobs in construction and six permanent jobs during operations as well as over $3.9 million in community benefit funding over the life of the project," he said.
"It's a big win for Western Australia and for Tilt Renewables, the leading Australian-owned renewable energy business and the largest owner of operational wind and solar generation in the country."
AGL chief commercial officer David Moretto said the project would enable the group to decarbonise its electricity supply.
"This renewable energy PPA will add important portfolio diversification for AGL Perth Energy and enable the team to offer a broader range of products to our customer base in WA," he said.
It's the first wind power offtake agreement signed by AGL.
Located in the Shire of Dandaragan, approximately 150km north of Perth, the project is within the strategic area of the WA government's clean energy link north transmission expansion outlined under the South West Interconnected System transmission plan.
While such offtake agreements enable the purchase of energy and renewable energy certificates for a fixed price, the terms of the deal were not revealed.
The Waddi Wind Farm first received planning approval from the Shire of Dandaragan in January 2012.
Since then, and in the lead up to last week's environmental approval, several amendments were made to the design focused on the layout of the turbines and electrical transmission infrastructure.
Originally planned to consist of 57 turbines, each standing at 180 metres tall, concerns over ground clearance and that impact on Carnaby's black cockatoos led to significant changes.
As it stands, the project will now involved just 18 turbines standing 220-metres tall.
In a statement following the approval, Minister Watt said the wind farm had been identified as a priority project on the National Renewable Energy Priority List.
"Since 2022, the Albanese government has given the green light to more than 100 renewable energy projects - enough to power every home in Australia," he said.
"We're producing record renewable electricity, and we are on track to transform Australia into a renewable energy superpower."
Tilt Renewables operates several solar and wind assets around the country, and currently has 1.9 gigawatts in operational power generation and a development pipeline of over 5GW.
