Renewable energy hub powers ahead in Victoria

stockyard hill, Germany, cattle hill, Dundonnell

A new renewable energy hub will see the construction of two wind farms in Victoria.

Victorian Minister for Energy Lily D’Ambrosio announced the development of the Vestas Renewable Energy Hub (VREH) in Geelong this week.

The hub will see the construction of wind turbines for the 180MW Berrybank Wind Farm and the 336MW Dundonnell Wind Farm, both supported by the state government’s recent Victorian Renewable Energy Targets (VRET) reverse auction.

“These wind farms will not only drive down energy prices across Victoria, they will create jobs here in Geelong,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.

Global supplier Vestas has been nominated as the preferred supplier of wind turbines for the two projects, triggering the investment in the hub.

The Berrybank farm will include 43 turbines, while the Dundonnell facility will feature 80 turbines.

The company also secured the EPC contract with Global Power Generation for the Berrybank project in the VRET auction.

“We are pleased to partner with Global Power Generation and leverage our world-class turbine solutions and strong auction capabilities for this project,” Vestas Asia Pacific President Clive Turton said.

“With our regional headquarters in Victoria and the new renewable energy hub in Geelong, Vestas is fully committed to creating local renewable energy jobs and working with customers and partners to achieve Victoria’s renewable energy ambitions”.

The VREH will directly employ up to 27 locals, train hundreds of staff in wind turbine maintenance and support local wind turbine manufacturing in Australian for the first time in more than10 years

It will also include a wind turbine manufacturing facility, the Western Victorian Service Support Centre, to service the successful VRET projects and wind turbine technician training through a partnership with Federation University.

To support long-term renewable energy investment in Victoria, Vestas has also signed an agreement with GeelongPort to use its shipping facilities and 40,000sq m of laydown area located at Corio Quay South.

The renewable energy auction is expected to generate more than 900MW of new clean energy, driving down energy prices for Victorian families.

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