Community & Business
18 December, 2024
New wind farm to employ hundreds in construction
Wind farms on horizon
Three major projects in the Karara area, including the Herries Range Wind Farm, are expected to employ hundreds of people at peak construction with work expected to start in late 2026.
The major addition to the plans in the past 12 months is the Battery (BESS) project at Karara.
The proposed Karara BESS project is a 400MW/2 hour battery proposed to be located within the MacIntyre Wind Precinct near the Karara Wind Turbines.
The battery safety features both prevention and protective features including both temperature and voltage monitoring to instantaneously shutdown as well as inbuilt fire-suppression systems and water sprinklers.
The BESS area would be approximately 250m x 150m (3.75ha) including the battery containers, access paths between containers and other infrastructure.
Two wind turbine projects will be built at the same time at Herries Range, west of the Cunningham Highway, and Karara, east of the Cunningham Highway.
Acciona’s first project in the area, the MacIntyre Wind Farm is currently being progressively commissioned and expecting to be fully operational in the third quarter of 2025.
The site team have been commissioning the first 27 turbines and will progressively commission additional turbines connecting them to the national electricity grid and exporting power.
The total number of workers during construction and operations for the Karara Wind Turbines, Karara Battery and Herries Range are yet to be confirmed but would be in the order of the MacIntyre Wind Farm (350-450 construction workers, 35-40 full time equivalent operational team).
Queensland head of development Acciona Energia David Carson said the proposed Herries Range Wind Farm and Karara turbines would add up to another gigawatt of wind energy generation to the MacIntyre Wind Precinct.
“Acciona Energia has yet to make a decision which approval pathway it will pursue but are broadly targeting late 2026 for the start of construction on both sites and major construction being completed by 2029,” Mr Carson said.
“The size, design and shape of the projects are still subject to federal and state approvals as well as local community and council consultation and feedback. “Ultimately, our objective is for a project that is supported by the community and investing into the area creating jobs and opportunities for locals and leaving behind a positive legacy.
“Fully constructed the MacIntyre Wind Precinct would employ almost 100 people full time and support dozens of associated businesses in the local area”.
The project was recently outlined in meetings at Inglewood, Karara and Warwick.
It was be in three local government areas, Southern Downs, Goondiwindi and Toowoomba.
