Waubra Wind Farm
| Waubra Wind Farm | |
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Part of the Waubra Wind farm from the Sunraysia Highway
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 Location of Waubra Wind Farm in Victoria
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| Country | Australia |
| Location | Waubra, Victoria |
| Coordinates | 37°20′53″S 143°36′01″E / 37.347917°S 143.600208°E |
| Status | Completed |
| Construction began | December 2007 |
| Commission date | July 2009 |
| Construction cost | AUD 450m |
| Owner(s) | Acciona Australia |
| Operator(s) | Acciona Australia |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 128 |
| Nameplate capacity | 192 MW |
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Website http://www.acciona.com.au/projects/energy/wind-power/waubra-wind-farm/ |
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The Waubra wind farm is located on both sides of the Sunraysia Highway 35 km north-west of Ballarat in Victoria, Australia. It is the fourth largest wind farm in Australia and was the largest wind farm by number of turbines and total capacity in the southern hemisphere upon its completion in July 2009.
Consisting of 128 wind turbines, with associated substations and an operations centre, each wind turbine has a capacity of 1.5 megawatts (MW). The total installed capacity is 192 MW.
The green energy generated by the wind farm each year provides electricity for 143,000 households enough to power a city 3-4 times the size of Ballarat. The Waubra Wind Farm offsets up to 635,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions every year. A range of studies are available which have shown that the embodied energy generated in the construction of a typical complex of turbines is offset in the first twelve months of operation.
Acciona Energy formed a Community Reference Group (CRG) for the construction phase of the Waubra wind farm, to provide a regular forum for community input to the project and to facilitate communication between members of the Waubra community and the wind farm project team. In 2010 the anti-wind farm lobby group the Waubra Foundation adopted the name of the nearby town.
The construction of the Waubra wind farm received financial assistance as part of the Victorian State Government’s Victorian Renewable Energy Target (VRET).
In July 2011 the Australian Broadcasting Corporation 4 Corners program explored health concerns connected with Australian wind farms in its "Against the Wind" report. The Waubra wind farm and the community living around it was featured in the report.
A viewing platform designed by Melbourne-based firm JOH Architects is accessible to tourists and located just off the Sunraysia Highway.
Coordinates: 37°19′32″S 143°36′32″E / 37.32556°S 143.60889°E
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