The Western Australian Energy Minister, Bill Johnston, has officially opened a 180MW Warradarge wind farm in the Mid-West state.

Via a phased commissioning process, the 51-turbine wind farm will power up to its maximum 180MW capacity by the end of October 2020.

The site of the wind farm -15 kilometers north-east of Warradarge, 15 kilometers south-east of Eneabba and 40 kilometers south-west of Carnamah – was chosen to take advantage of the region’s plentiful wind resources and proximity to the transmission infrastructure.

Every turbine weighs 181 tons with 67-meter-long blades, has a hub height of 84 meters and a blade tip height of 151 meters.

Specialist technicians are now busy running tests on each of the turbines, in turn in preparation for generation and export from the entire wind farm to the South West Interconnected System (SWIS) after commissioning.

“Bright Energy Investments is incredibly proud this large-scale renewable energy project has come to fruition. The Warradarge Wind Farm is a world-class asset, and the culmination of this significant project is reflective of the hard work and dedication of everyone involved.”

Tom Frood, general manager of Bright Energy Investments.

More than 200 jobs were generated during the construction of the wind farm, which was completed within 12 months of the first mobilization to the site. At full strength, the Warradarge wind farm would produce enough renewable energy to supply the equivalent of 135,000 Western Australian households.

Along with the Warradarge wind farm, Bright Energy Investments completed the extension of the Greenough River Solar Farm near Geraldton and the refurbishment work to prolong the life of the Albany Grasmere wind farm.