The first 27 wind turbines at MacIntyre Wind Farm in south-west Queensland were connected and started generating electricity this week.

Over the next 12 months, the remaining wind turbines will be progressively connected, with another batch of 27 planned to be exporting electricity by Christmas. Once all 162 wind turbines are operational it will be the largest operating wind farm in Australia and the southern hemisphere.

Developer, owner and operator ACCIONA Energia said the project will almost double the total amount of wind energy generated in Queensland when fully operational in Q3 2025.

“Today marks a significant milestone for Australia’s diversification of its energy sources with the southern hemisphere’s largest operating wind farm now generating renewable energy,’’ said ACCIONA Energia Managing Director Brett Wickham

“When the MacIntyre Wind Farm is fully operational, it will generate enough renewable energy to power more than 600,000 homes and double Queensland’s wind energy resources.”

Macintyre Wind Farm is part of the greater MacIntyre Wind Precinct comprising of the MacIntyre Wind Farm and the proposed Herries Range Wind Farm which is in late-stage development. When complete approximately 2 GW of renewable energy will be generated from the precinct.

The MacIntyre Wind Farm is a joint-venture between ACCIONA Energia and Ark Energy.

Ark Energy will use some of the generation from its share in the MacIntyre Wind Farm to support its sister company, Sun Metals Corporation and the Townsville refinery’s decarbonisation plans. Sun Metals aims to be the world’s first producer of green zinc. It was the first major refiner to sign up to the RE100 initiative and has committed to powering its operations from 100% renewable sources by 2040.

“Generation from MacIntyre Wind Farm is an exciting milestone for Ark Energy and Sun Metals. It will help to further decarbonise the Sun Metals refinery and achieve a real step-change in progress towards its RE100 commitment,” said Ark Energy CEO Michael Choi.

“Decarbonising industry and producing green metals will also put Sun Metals, and Queensland and Australia’s metal exports, at a significant competitive advantage internationally.”

The MacIntyre Wind Farm will also support other commercial energy users in infrastructure, resources, retail and transport decarbonise their operations through PPA agreements with Queensland Government owned enterprises Stanwell Corporation and CleanCo totalling 550MW.

“Major projects such as the MacIntyre Wind Farm will make a material contribution to decarbonising Queensland’s energy consumption, particularly in hard-to-abate industrial sectors,’’ Mr Wickham said.

“Helping large industrial and commercial energy users to decarbonise supports these important industries to stay in Australia.”

The MacIntyre Wind Farm project procured more than $680 million in labour, services and materials across Queensland during its construction period.

“The construction of the MacIntyre Wind Farm has created significant economic activity across Queensland, creating jobs and procurement opportunities for large and small businesses alike,” Mr Wickham said.

“From concreters to caterers, we have sourced more than $115 million in work and services from more than 80 businesses in and around the Darling Downs region and hired hundreds of local workers.’’

On average, between 400-450 people have been working on the project during its construction phase, with locals from the Darling Downs region representing more than a third of the employment base.