Synergy, a state-owned power utility, is seeking planning approval for a 1.5-gigawatt renewable energy farm near Carnamah, approximately a three-hour drive north of Perth. The proposed Tathra Wind Farm will feature up to 140 wind turbines with a maximum capacity of 1000 megawatts, 500 megawatts of solar panels, and batteries to store 500 megawatts. This combination of wind, solar, and batteries will enable Synergy to maximize the utilization of the nearby transmission line’s capacity.
The wind farm will span 158 square kilometers of land across nine farms, with the landowners having given their consent to the development application. The facilities will occupy about ten percent of the land, with the wind turbine blades reaching heights of up to 250 meters above the ground. Synergy plans to build the project in stages, with an estimated cost of $4.5 billion. If completed to full capacity, it will be the largest wind farm in Western Australia.
The project’s timeline is ambitious, with Synergy aiming to develop Tathra quickly to replace the generation capacity lost when its Collie coal-fired power station closes in 2027. The utility’s last coal-fired power station, Muja, is scheduled to close in 2029. Nearby, the Warradarge Wind Farm will soon become the largest wind farm in WA, with a generating capacity of 283 megawatts once an additional 30 turbines are installed by 2027.
The Tathra Wind Farm will require up to one million solar panels to generate 500 megawatts of electricity. These panels will be mounted on a tracking system to follow the sun and may be “bi-facial,” allowing light reflected off the ground to be used. The panels will be installed in areas of low agricultural value, and Synergy will consider designs that allow sheep to graze between the panels. Although Synergy declined to comment on the project, the proposed Tathra Wind Farm is a significant step towards increasing Western Australia’s renewable energy capacity.