Wind farm supplying power for the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project

The Crowlands Wind Farm, built by Australian renewable energy company Pacific Hydro for the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project, has started supplying power.

We’re participating in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project, which is seeing a new wind farm being built in regional Victoria. 21 of the wind farm’s 39 turbines are now operating, and the wind farm has started supplying power to the grid.

Now that the wind farm is up and running, we expect to achieve our target of switching to 100% renewable electricity this year. This will be one year ahead of our original target of reaching 100% renewable electricity by 2020.

“Our customers have told us that encouraging growth in renewable energy is a priority for them,” says Bank Australia Managing Director Damien Walsh. “Participating in the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project is a great way we’ve been able to do that.”

The Melbourne Renewable Energy Project group is led by the City of Melbourne and includes Bank Australia, University of Melbourne, RMIT, Federation Square, City of Port Phillip, City of Yarra, Moreland City Council, Zoos Victoria, Citywide, National Australia Bank, Australia Post, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and NEXTDC.

The group plans to purchase 88 GWh of energy, which is the equivalent to powering more than 17,000 households in Melbourne for a year.

The wind farm at the agricultural community of Crowlands, 205kms from Melbourne, was first proposed in 2007 and has now been made possible thanks to the unique partnership. The project created more than 140 regional jobs during construction as well as eight ongoing maintenance jobs.

Find out more about the Melbourne Renewable Energy Project here.

Image: Pacific Hydro Australia