The NSW Government has approved a modification to a large-scale wind farm in the state’s Central West which will deliver enough energy to the grid to power 730,000 homes.

The Liverpool Range Wind Farm was approved in 2018 with a modification sought in 2022 to utilise more efficient technology to increase its energy generation with fewer turbines.

The $2 billion renewable energy project, northeast of Mudgee, will create 550 construction jobs and 47 operational jobs for the Central West economy.

The local community will also benefit with $35 million to be delivered to local councils through Voluntary Planning Agreements.

Following consultation with the community the applicant reduced the number of turbines from 267 to 185 to reduce the visual impacts.

The modification will see an increase in the project’s maximum energy generation capacity by 370 megawatts to 1.3 gigawatts, with capacity to power an additional 200,000 homes across the state.

Achieving this additional power was made possible through the use of more efficient turbines and increasing the maximum wind turbine height from 165 to 215 metres.

The project will help prevent 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere across NSW during its first full year of operation.

This State Significant Development is located within the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone (REZ), which the NSW Government considers a strategic area with strong renewable energy resource potential. 

Projects like this are critical to Labor’s Energy Plan to deliver cleaner, more affordable energy to the grid while creating thousands of jobs and boosting regional economies. 

In its assessment, the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure (DPHI) worked closely with the community, councils and government agencies to address visual, biodiversity, traffic and transport impacts.

The department has set a suite of conditions to make sure any potential impacts are effectively minimised, managed and offset.

For more information, see: https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/major-projects/projects/mod-1-turbine-and-infrastructure-changes

Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully said, “NSW is leading a once-in-a-generation upgrade of the electricity network by building the infrastructure we need to power our state into the future.

“The Liverpool Range Wind Farm will generate jobs during its construction and operational phases, while also providing long-lasting benefits to the local area through community contributions over the life of project.

“This is a good example of the applicant working with the local community and the final result being material changes to the proposal that address visual impacts.”