Construction on the first phase of the 429 MW Murra Warra wind farm in Australia is to start after its owners sealed an equity investment from Macquarie Group and gave contractor Senvion notice to proceed.
Senvion says that the first stage of the wind farm will consist of 61 of its 3.7M144 wind turbines and have a total generating capacity of 226 MW. It will deliver the project with Downer, an Australian civil and electrical contractor.
Macquarie has committed to the purchase of an equity stake in Murra Warra, a move that has enabled the project to reach financial close. Macquarie and its partner in the project, RES, have also committed to developing the second, 203 MW phase of the wind farm, located near Horsham in Victoria state.
The two companies have also secured debt finance of A$320 million for the project’s first phase. The wind farm will sell its output to a consortium of large energy users under a long term power purchase agreement signed in late 2017.
Matt Rebbeck, Chief Executive Officer of RES Australia said: “The Murra Warra wind farm is a world class project which once constructed will be one of the highest performing wind farms in the southern hemisphere.”
Pre-construction work on the wind farm has already started and the project is due to start operating in 2019.
