$4.5b WA wheatbelt wind farm advances
Synergy has applied to develop its Tathra wind farm, a 2GW combined solar and wind project, with the WA Government after receiving consent for land usage from nine farm owners.
The state-owned company’s proposed project, located 300km north of Perth near Eneabba, includes 140 wind turbines with a generation capacity of up to 1000MW, up to 1,000,000 solar photo-voltaic (PV) panels with 500MW of solar capacity and lithium-ion batteries with a 500MW capacity.
Synergy’s planning documents state that by co-locating wind turbines, solar panels and a battery energy storage system (BESS) the project can reduce environmental impact, lower infrastructure costs, balance energy output and store surplus energy.
The collaborative project will also support a more resilient energy system and prevent grid overload by providing fast-response backup power and helping to manage voltage and frequency on the network.
The farm is planned to extend over 158km2 of land and, if full capacity is reached, it will be WA’s largest wind farm — surpassing the significant size of the nearby Warradarge wind farm.
Warradarge is currently undergoing expansion works with the installation of 30 new turbines expected to bring the farm’s generation capacity to 283MW.
The Warradarge expansion works and the proposed development of Tathra will help Synergy replace the coal energy generation lost with the closure of the Collie coal-fired power station which is expected to close in 2027.
Synergy continues to develop renewables projects across the state, including its Kwinana BESS which is considered crucial to supporting the closure of its coal-fired power stations.