Australia's Biggest Wind Farm

Recently Victoria's Macarthur 140-turbine wind farm was officially opened. Providing enough power for 220,000 homes that means each turbine makes enough power for a town of 1500 homes (around 4000 people).


Though it's a lot of area, the land can still be used for sheep and cattle grazing as before - and the farmers receive payment for the use of their land (about $5,000 per MW). By my maths, that would mean farmers of this region would be receiving about $2.1 million each year, from the 420 MW wind farm.

For me this sounds like such a great story. Producing sizeable amounts of renewable energy and providing a second source of income for the farming community. In fact, sometimes, during tough farming years, windpower can save the farm.

PS. While this is the biggest wind farm in Australia (hopefully a record that is soon beaten) the world's biggest is much larger - 1064 MW in India.