Epuron today announced the acquisition of the Yass Valley Wind Farm and Conroy’s Gap Wind Farm projects from Origin Energy (Origin).

The Yass Valley Wind Farm includes up to 152 turbines located approximately 25km west of Yass in NSW. It was developed by Epuron in 2008 and the Environmental Assessment placed on public exhibition in November and December 2009, after which it was sold to Origin. Twenty two submissions were received, sixteen from private individuals and six from government agencies. Epuron is now preparing a response to these submissions which it intends to submit by the end of 2012.

The adjacent Conroy's Gap Wind Farm is a 15 turbine development located approximately 15km west of Yass in NSW. It was also developed by Epuron and sold to Origin in 2007. Epuron has now placed orders for wind turbines for this project, and is commencing the grid connection approvals required.

“Both sites have an excellent wind resource and are in close proximity to a number of possible grid connection points on the TransGrid network,” Epuron Director Andrew Durran noted. “We look forward to working with the landowners and neighboring community to get both projects to the point where they can be constructed.”

As a first step, Epuron will now recommence consultation with respect to the projects and establish a Community Consultation Committee to assist in this process. Epuron will also develop an ongoing consultation plan for the projects in line with its Community Consultation Framework.

Epuron now aims to complete the additional work required to respond to the submissions and complete the planning approval process and to allow the projects to be connected to the electricity grid.

Growing Demand

The demand for projects like the Yass Valley and Conroy's Gap Wind Farms is driven by the Australian Government’s Renewable Energy Target (RET). While new construction under this target stalled for a number of years, demand for new projects is again growing strongly which should support construction of these wind farms.

The NSW government’s 'NSW 2021 - A Plan to make NSW number one' also commits NSW to achieving 20% renewable energy by 2020 and highlights the benefits of NSW capturing its share of the planned wind farm developments.

About the Yass Valley Wind Farm

The Yass Valley Wind Farm is to be located approximately 25km west of Yass and consists of 152 turbine locations across two precincts, Coppabella and Marilba. Epuron has been working on the Yass Valley Wind Farm since 2008 and has been assessing the wind resource with a number of wind monitoring masts across the site. After an extensive community consultation program, Epuron submitted the development application and Environmental Assessment (EA) in November 2009. Further details of the wind farm and the project Environmental Assessment are available on Epuron’s website at http://www.epuron.com.au/project/yass-valley/.

About the Conroy's Gap Wind Farm

The Conroy's Gap Wind Farm is to be located approximately 17km west of Yass, and achieved development consent in 2007. The project comprises 15 turbines and a maximum capacity of 30 megawatts, together with the related electrical connections and other infrastructure. It is located to the south of the Hume Highway and adjacent to the proposed Yass Valley Wind Farm. Epuron
entered into a contract for supply of wind turbines for the site in June 2012. Further details of the wind farm and the project Environmental Assessment are available on Epuron’s website at http://www.epuron.com.au/project/conroys-gap/.