TagEnergy has commenced construction of Stage 2 of the 1.33GW Golden Plains wind farm in Victoria, Australia.

The wind farm will supply 9% of Victoria’s energy needs by mid-2027.

The commencement of the 577MW Stage 2 follows the financial close of this phase of the $2.65bn project.

With funding secured, construction of 93 wind turbine generators is set to begin, supported by the Australian government’s capacity investment scheme (CIS).

A consortium of international lenders, including the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Westpac, Denmark’s Export & Investment Fund and Japan’s Mizuho Bank has provided non-recourse finance for the project.

TagEnergy has continued its collaboration with established partners, signing a new engineering, procurement and construction contract with Vestas for turbines, engaging AusNet Services for grid connection and appointing WestWind Energy as the asset manager.

As Stage 1 approaches the completion of its civil balance of plant works and the erection of 25% of its turbines, the start of Stage 2’s construction will bring more than 350 workers to the site.

TagEnergy Australia managing partner Andrew Riggs stated: “We couldn’t be prouder to be delivering the largest wind farm in the Southern Hemisphere.

“This mega-project materially improves Victoria’s energy security, puts downward pressure on electricity costs and dramatically reduces carbon pollution. Together with our partners, we are accelerating the energy transition.”

In February 2024, Equinix signed a power purchase agreement (PPA) with TagEnergy for 151MW of clean energy from Golden Plains.

The PPA will support Equinix’s goal of running its business entirely on renewable energy.

Once the wind farm is operational in 2029, Equinix’s 17 International Business Exchange (IBX) data centres in Australia will be fuelled by renewable energy.