Windlab‘s 400MW Gawara Baya Wind Farm has been approved by Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek despite opposition from conservation groups.
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To be built 70km inland from Ingham in Queensland, Gawara Baya Wind Farm will be home to 69 wind turbines and will generate enough energy to power 240,000 homes.
The approval of the wind farm is subject to strict conditions to protect the Sharman’s Rock-Wallaby and northern Greater Glider, and follows a rigorous assessment process.
The conditions include clearance limits, hours of operation during construction, and submission of environmental management plans which will set out how any impacts will be managed, mitigated, avoided or offset.
The project is located on an active cattle property within Gugu Badhun Country in close proximity to the existing electricity transmission network.
On the project’s website, Windlab said, “Gawara Baya is an essential early-transition opportunity for new, large-scale clean energy generation that can be responsibly developed, grid connected via existing transmission infrastructure and producing power within the next four years.
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“Gawara Baya is a key project driving progress against time-critical decarbonisation, as well as supporting the solution for the critical shortage of renewable energy supply expected by 2025.”
