Dundonnell Wind Farm

The Environment Effects Statement (EES) and planning permit applications were submitted to the relevant authorities in April 2015 and the final planning approval for the wind farm was granted in July 2016 for up to 96 turbines. Approval was also granted under the commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

In December 2017, the Minister for Planning approved a variation to the maximum tip-height of the turbines, increasing this from 165m to 189m. The total number of turbines to be installed was also reduced from up to 96 to up to 88.

Please find copies of the planning permits and approvals for the project below:

An electronic copy of the main EES document is available below. If you would like to view any attachments to this document we can provide these on request.

There are a number of development and management plans that have been prepared for the project. The key plans are available below:

Required annual reporting (relating to the EPBC Approval, Brolga Compensation Plan, and Bat and Avifauna Management Plan) are available below .

The Dundonnell Wind Farm will produce enough clean energy each year to power about 245,000 homes - or more than enough for all of Ballarat, Warrnambool and Geelong. The Project will save the emission of roughly 1.3 million tonnes of carbon. This is the equivalent of removing about 440,000 cars from our roads.

Wind farms offer many other benefits by helping farmers generate extra income, diversify use of land, insure against market downturns and provide improved access for fire fighters through the creation of additional fire breaks.

Moyne Shire Council establishes Advisory Committees to help in the consultative process and to provide valuable information to support the decision making of the Council. The Community Engagement Committee (an Advisory committee) for the Dundonnell Wind Farm is made up of Council and community representatives.

More information about the Committee, its members and the minutes can be found on Council's website, here.

Tilt Renewables is committed to open and honest dialogue with all stakeholders, with an aim to build and enhance community acceptance and trust in all projects and in the renewable energy industry as a whole. During construction we opened a project information centre at 97 Dunlop Street, Mortlake and provided weekly to fortnightly construction updates. While these have now ceased, we continue to distribute a bi-monthly newsletter. You can access these (and subscribe to our email distribution) in the News and Updates section below.

Your feedback is welcome, so if you have any concerns or believe you can provide local insight into matters which we should address as we enter the operations phase of the project, please get in touch.

As a long-term good corporate citizen, Tilt Renewables is committed to sharing and enhancing its host communities by offering community benefits for all of its projects, including the Dundonnell Wind Farm.

Tilt Renewables consulted with the local community to determine a range of benefit sharing programs which address key social, economic and environmental needs in the region. Programs include a range of training and skills development programs, the installation of a mini-grid, a road safety fund, support for local not for profit organisations and mental health providers, as well as a community fund and education funding for residents.

The DDWF Community Fund and the DDWF Education Fund will operate for the life of the wind farm and are administered by a community-led group.

Click here for information relating to the Funds, application guidelines and application forms.

A Wind Farm brings many direct opportunities for employment to the region during both the construction phase and ongoing operations once the Wind Farm is commissioned.

Flow on employment benefits are also achieved as the project brings demand for local and regional business services and consumer goods. Most regions have a range of businesses that will provide services to a wind farm project.

These include:

• Domestic scale electricians;
• Transport operators;
• Competent machine operators;
• General labourers;
• Quarries; and
• Concrete suppliers.

The Dundonnell Wind Farm will directly employ 200 staff during the construction period over two years. This will be gradual at first before building up for a period then winding down towards commissioning.

Our economic assessment has found that Dundonnell Wind Farm will provide more than 1,500 indirect jobs as a result of its construction.

Once operational, the Dundonnell Wind Farm will employ 10 full-time staff.

Tilt Renewables, as the owner of the wind farm, will not typically be directly employing workers, this will be done by our delivery partners and contractors (Vestas, Zenviron, AusNet and Downer) and their subcontractors.

Anyone interested in supplying local services or gaining employment is encouraged to register their interest on the Goods and Services Register here. We will pass these details on to the relevant parties.

Newsletters are an important part of Tilt Renewables' community engagement and will increase in frequency as the Project develops.

Visit this page regularly to ensure you receive all updates related to the Dundonnell Wind Farm. To subscribe to our newsletter mailing list, please click here.

To view archived newsletters, please click here.

All construction updates have now been archived. To view them, please click here.

This section contains the most up to date FAQs for easy access.

For further information on the Dundonnell Wind Farm please contact the project team at dundonnellwindfarm@tiltrenewables.com or on 1800 WE TILT (938 458).

For any details or queries in regards to the construction of the transmission line or substation please visit:

https://www.ausnetservices.com.au/en/Projects/Windfarms/Dundonnell-Wind-Farm

If you have a complaint, please contact us at complaints@tiltrenewables.com or on 1800 306 118.

You can find Tilt Renewables' Complaints Handling Procedure here. Whilst a copy of the Dundonnell Wind Farm Complaints Management Plan is available below: