Tasmania green lights Ark Energy’s proposed wind farm

It will be located in the Central Highlands region.

The Central Highlands Council of Tasmania has granted approval for Ark Energy's proposed St Patricks Plains Wind Farm, a 300-megawatt (MW) facility that will be located in the Australian state’s Central Highlands region.

Donna Bolton, Ark Energy’s general manager development for Tasmania, said in a statement that the site is an ideal location for wind generation, thanks to the grid connection on-site. 

“To date we have received interest from 40 Tasmanian-based companies and owners of 50 local properties to provide services and accommodation during construction,” Bolton said.

St Patricks Plains Wind Farm has been in development since 2019. The project's design has undergone substantial modifications, with the elimination of 20 wind turbines to mitigate environmental and community effects.

The company said it will now look into the conditions issued with the permit approval. It is also now awaiting for the final decision from the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.

Ark Energy has secured its first Tasmanian project approval with the green light for the 300-MW wind farm. This follows the earlier approval of its 347-MW Bowmans Creek Wind Farm in New South Wales' Hunter-Central Coast Renewable Energy Zone.

Earlier, the company announced it has pulled out its development application for the Doughboy Wind Farm from the New South Wales Government’s planning and assessment process following a change of mind from some of the project’s affected landowners.