Tilt Renewables says it has bought a 50 per cent interest in the huge 1.2 gigawatt Forest Wind project located in a pine plantation in Queensland, one of the largest land-based wind projects in Australia’s main grid.
The deal will see Tilt – a platform owned by Queensland Investment Corporation, AGL, and the Future Fund, develop the project with Forest Wind’s founder, CleanSight.
The purchase price was not mentioned. The stake was bought from European-based global energy services giant and wind turbine manufacturer Siemens, which has previously been revealed as one of the joint owners of the project.
Forest Wind is located in pre-existing “exotic” pine plantations between Gympie and Maryborough in southeast Queensland, and so is not subject to the same concerns as a project located in the heart of native bushland or forests.
Pine plantations are being targeted by a number of project developers and governments as potential sites for wind projects, as the turbines and their blades rise significantly above the tree lines.
The Forest Wind project takes the development pipeline of Tilt Renewables to around 5GW, on top of the 1.7GW it currently has under production. Its biggest development project is the 1.5GW Liverpool Range wind farm.
“We believe that it is going to take projects of substantial scale to rapidly drive the transition to renewables and our investment in this project shows our commitment to help deliver that transition for Queensland and Australia,” said Anthony Yeates, the company’s head of renewable development.
He said Tilt Renewables will continue to work closely with the region’s First Nations people, the Queensland Government, HQPlantations and other key stakeholders to deliver Forest Wind. Tilt has yet to provide a timeline for the development of the project.
