The Winterbourne Wind Farm is a proposed wind farm near Walcha, within the NSW New England Renewable Energy Zone. The project has been proposed by Danish renewable energy firm Vestas.
The scope of the project includes:
- 118 turbines with a combined 732 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity
- a 100-MW / 200-megawatt hour battery
- 44 kilometres of transmission lines
- a 330 kV single or double circuit, three phase, twin conductor bundle overhead transmission line
- a switchyard to connect the transmission line to the existing 330 kV TransGrid Tamworth to Armidale overhead transmission line network
- two 33/330kV electrical substations
- internal private access road network
- an operations and maintenance facility, and
- upgrades of local roads and crossings.
Key Dates
| Dec 2027 | Expected Construction Commencement |
| Jun 2031 | Expected Construction Completion |
Procurement
| Procuring Agency: | WinterbourneWind |
PROJECT HISTORY
| Nov 2022 | The NSW Department of Environment and Planning placed WinterbourneWind's Environmental Impact Assessment for the project on public exhibition, closing 23 January 2023. |
| Oct 2024 | Developers ERM published a project amendment report on the NSW Major Planning Portal. The amendment lays out a reduction of wind turbines from 119 to 118, and an extension in the delivery timeline from 30 to 52 months. Construction is now expected to commence in Q3 2026. The project was originally expected to commence in Q2 2024. |
| Dec 2025 | The project was referred to the NSW Independent Planning Commission for assessment. |
| Jun 2026 | Project developers Winterbourne Wind provided an update to the delivery timeline of the project. Development approval is expected to be issued in early 2027, with construction estimated to start in late 2027. |
Estimated Total Cost
(2026)
Sector
Energy
Procurement approach
Other |
Location
New South Wales |
Resources
