By HARRY CLARKE
REPRESENTATIVES from civil and electrical contractors hoping to secure potentially lucrative deals to help build a large wind farm near Jandowae have toured the site and heard directly from developers about their requirements for the project.
Developers of the Wambo Wind Farm are also inviting community members to learn more about the project at a drop in session to be held on Wednesday, March 2, between 8am and 2pm at the Jandowae Library.
The project has now secured approval under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) and developer, Cubico Sustainable Developments, appears on track to begin construction during the second quarter of this year.
Cubico this month hosted a site visit for prospective civil and electrical contractors wishing to tender for work on the project, which is expected to employ up to 200 workers during construction and a further 20 for ongoing maintenance and operation.
Between 80 and 84 wind turbines are planned to be built across a 13,000 hectare site, about 15 kilometres north east of Jandowae in the Western Downs region. The EPBC allows for up to 110 turbines.
Cubico says, once completed, the wind farm is expected to generate 550MW of electricity for the national grid, which is enough to power 170,500 homes annually and offset more than 1.1 million tonnes of carbon dioxide.
Representative from Cubico and its partners, Renewable Energy Partners (REP) and Powerlink, are carrying out ongoing wind monitoring and investigations around the site.
The wind farm is expect to be completed and operational some time in 2024.
