KfW IPEX-Bank invests in Golden Plains wind farm

KfW IPEX-Bank joins Australia’s flagship “Golden Plains” energy transition project. The project involves building and operating the onshore wind farm around 130 kilometres west of Melbourne, the capital of Victoria. The wind farm will have a total capacity of 1.3 GW.

“We are financing Golden Plains out of conviction,” said Dr Velibor Marjanovic, Member of the Management Board of KfW IPEX-Bank. “Our focus is on supporting the transformation of the economy and society to improve economic, environmental and social living conditions worldwide – which is why we are also focusing on projects in the energy transition. With our participation, we are helping to make a flagship of the energy transition possible that supplies 750,000 households with renewable energy.”

Besides KfW IPEX-Bank, which is contributing around AUD 160 million, other participants are the Australian Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac Banking Corporation, EKF in Denmark, Japan’s Mizuho Bank and the Bank of China. The total investment volume is AUD 2 billion.

The construction of the first phase of the project will start in early 2023 and will have a capacity of 756 MW from 122 6.2 MW turbines from the Danish manufacturer Vestas. To reach the total capacity of 1.3 GW, Golden Plains will comprise up to 228 turbines once completed, making it Australia’s largest wind project.

In addition, there are plans to install a battery storage system with a capacity of 300 MW, which is intended to contribute to the flexibility and stability of the grid. An EPC contract with Vestas Australia has been concluded for the turnkey construction of the wind farm. A 30-year full maintenance contract has also been concluded with Vestas for the operating phase. The wind farm will be connected to the local transmission grid by means of a new substation to be built by the Australian grid operator AusNet.